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Olympics / After his father's death, swimmer Alon Mandel sets new Israeli record
By Haaretz Service
Tags: Israeli Olympians, Olympics 

It was not necessarily one of the highlights of the 2008 Olympics, but it was certainly one of the most moving moments for Israeli viewers. Swimmer Alon Mandel, whose father died last week, dove into the pool for the preliminary heat in the 200-meter men's butterfly.

Mandel opened with a good rhythm, striding in his custom elongated movements on his way to a fifth-place finish in the first 100 meters. Then, he began to pick up the pace, setting a new Israeli record of 1:59.27 in the process. He ended the heat in a respectable fourth place.

Still in mourning, Mandel's family watched the heat from their home in Netanya. In an interview with Channel 1, his mother Rina said the family members held their breath as the clock ticked during the race. Rina Mandel spoke with her son right after the heat and told him that he should be proud of his achievement. Other family members said that they don't wish upon any athlete to have to compete in such an important event under such difficult circumstances.
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In recent years, Alon has trained at the University of Michigan with American swimmer Michael Phelps, the leading contender for the Gold medal in this heat.

Mandel got to the Beijing Olympics with much luck. He broke the Israeli record in a decisive heat, but finished in 13th place overall. Mandel made it into the heat in Beijing only after a Greek swimmer was eliminated from the competition because he tested positive for an illegal substance.

Several days before the competition, Mandel received the news about his father, and despite the family's loss, they encouraged Alon to stay in Beijing and compete.

Meanwhile, Israeli tennis star Shahar Peer (ranked 24 in the world) advanced to the second round at the Olympics on Monday, after defeating Romanian Sorana Cirstea.

Peer opened strong in the first set, winning it 6-3. In the second set, Cirstea broke Peer's serve three times, ultimately taking it 7-5. But Peer came back in the third set, winning it 6-0.

In other competitions, Israeli windsurfer Shahar Tzuberi is sitting in first place after his victory in the first men's windsurfing race Monday. The second race is scheduled to take place later on Monday.

Making his first ever appearance at the Games, Tzuberi holds a lead over Chinese competitor Aichen Wang. The road to a medal is a long one given that first race won by Tzuberi is one of 20 in total.

Ma'ayan Davidovich is also scheduled to race her second round in the women's windsurfing competition. She finished 13th out of a total of 27 competitors in the first round. Her compatriots, Udi Gal and Gideon Kliger also finished 13th in the first round of their sailing contest on Monday, a disappointing result for two men considered to be Israel's premier sailing stars.

In women's sailing action, Vered Buskila and Nika Kornitzky finished their first round race in 9th place. The two are hoping not to repeat their performance from the prior Olympic games, when they failed to pose a threat to the top finishers.

Nimrod Shapira Bar-Or, who made history Sunday after advancing to the semifinals of the 200-meter freestyle swimming competition, failed to repeat a similar feat Monday, posting a 1:48.16 finish, good for 15th place overall.

In the 100-meter backstroke finals, Guy Barnea finished in last place after posting a time of 54.93 seconds.

Israeli shooter Doron Egozi finished in 41st place out of a total of 51 shooters in the 10-meter competition. Egozi, the youngest of the three shooters representing Israel in Beijing, ended the day with 587 out of a possible 600 points. Finland's Henry Hakkinen captured the gold medal, posting 598 points.

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