Israeli swim team finishes eighth

by HILLEL KUTTLER

ATLANTA (July 28) - Israel's 4x100 medley relay team on Friday night achieved a first for any individual or group race: It made the finals in swimming.

Eytan Orbach, Vadim Alexsev, Dan Kutler and Yoav Bruck finished eighth and last in the evening's finals. The US won the gold medal and clinched a world record while Russia took silver and Australia bronze.

"Everyone put up the fight of fights," Orbach, a backstroker, said. "Of course we're satisfied. No one is disappointed. It's a wonderful feeling to reach the final, to have a world record occur [during it]."

Israel's time of 3:42.24 in the morning's third heat set a new national record, the third for the country in the pool here.

Also Friday, on the first day of athletics competition, Konstantin Matoussevich placed out of the running in the high jump by finishing seventh in his group with a height of 2.26 meters. And Rogel Nachum scored only ninth-best in his group in the triple jump with a 16.67.

The US's Kenny Harrison, with 17.58, led in the triple preliminaries heading into last night's final. The high jump final is tonight.

In the windsurfing event in Savannah, Gal Friedman ended the day Friday in third place overall by finishing first and ninth in the two rounds.

The Israeli swimmers conceded afterwards they held little hope of leapfrogging more than one foe in the final, much less attain a medal.

But reaching the final was "a very proud moment, the most proud moment I've had in my swimming career," said butterflyer Kutler, whose parents and sister attended from their home in California. "I really feel honored to represent Israel."

Despite the team's strong showing in the heat, Israeli coaches evinced disappointment when Israel was edged out for the eighth and last spot.

But by the time the scoreboard flashed the standings, Israel was a surprise entrant due to the unannounced disqualification of Great Britain and Portugal for early starts.

The coaches in the stands and the swimmers at poolside hugged each other in exultation.

The Israeli team had Thursday predicted a spot in the final provided they improve their speed slightly and executed their transfers flawlessly. Indeed, in the morning heat, Israel beat out every other finalist for transfer quickness.

After the final, breaststroker Alexseyev, who placed sixth in for the Soviet Union in Seoul in 1988, hobbled around the warmup pool. He had taken massage therapy following the morning heat for recurring back problems.

In the preliminary, Bruck shaved a huge 1.63 seconds off the individual 100m. he swam earlier in the week.

While Israel is not a swimming power, the team "succeeded, and that's a tribute to those involved," Bruck said.

"This will contribute a lot to Israeli sports," an uplifted Bruck said afterward. "I hope swimming catches on ... the same way judo gained momentum after [two Olympic medals in] '92,."

As for their future plans, Bruck is undecided, Kutler will begin business school in Israel, Orbach heads this fall for Alabama's Auburn University on a swimming scholarship, and Alexsev is likely to retire.