Four years ago, swimmer Leah Schwartz traveled to Israel with her family to watch her sister Becca compete with the U.S. team at the World Maccabiah Games.
“Ever since then, I’ve wanted to compete,” she said.
A swimmer since the age of five, Schwartz, who is from Middleton, is competing this month in the 17th annual Maccabiah Games in the juniors swimming category.
Schwartz, 18, has swam competitively for years, according to her mother, Jerri Schwartz, including “all four years varsity at Middleton High School,” from which she graduated in June.
“She swims year-round,” Jerri Schwartz said, including on recreational teams during the summer months. She also plans to swim for the University of Iowa team, where she will attend this fall.
With sisters Becca and Sara she also competed at the Pan-Am Games in Santiago, Chile, between December 2004 and January 2005.
To prepare for the Maccabiah, Leah swam “morning practices every day and a few two-a-days,” she said in an e-mail interview. She said she was inspired by “the thought of improving” and also “working hard to achieve my goals.”
At press time, Schwartz swam the 200-meter backstroke and won 6th place in the preliminaries; and was preparing for the 100m butterfly.
According to a July 5 JTA article by Peter Ephross, a record number of participants is expected for this year’s Maccabiah. Almost 8,000 Jewish athletes from around the world are competing in the games.
Swimming traditionally draws some of the highest-level athletes from around the world, according to the article. Former Olympic gold medalists Mark Spitz and Lenny Krayzelburg have won gold at past Maccabiah Games.
Schwartz was able to meet Spitz and Krayzelburg at the opening ceremonies held at the Ramat Gan Stadium on July 11.
“It’s amazing,” she said. “You really get to see some world-class athletes, not only in swimming, but in every sport here.”
For Schwartz, however, the excitement of the experience isn’t only in the competition.
Though the games officially began on July 10, she flew with the rest of the junior, youth and open teams on July 2, for a week of sightseeing.
During that time, she visited Masada, toured Jerusalem’s Old City, went kayaking on the Jordan River, and visited the Dead Sea, where it was “amazing as a swimmer being able to float with your legs straight out of the water.”
Schwartz also visited Yad Vashem, where she said “relearning about all of the horrors of the Holocaust with other Jewish athletes was especially meaningful.”
Though she saw some of the same sites she did four years ago, Schwartz said she “enjoyed it more” then she did on her last trip.
According to JTA, throughout their history, the games have attracted some of the top U.S. athletes. In addition to Spitz and Krayzelburg, gymnast Mitch Gaylord, tennis player Andrea Leand and basketball players Danny Schayes and Larry Brown — who now coaches NBA’s Detroit Pistons — have competed in the past.
For more information on the Maccabiah Games and to view the latest scores, visit www.maccabiusa.com.
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