Jason Lezak with the Maccabiah torch
Photo by Elizur Reuveni, the 18th Maccabiah
July 23, 2009
JERUSALEM — U.S. swimmer Jason Lezak, making his Maccabiah Games debut, and Australian golfer Roy Vandersluis, in his ninth Games, both won gold medals.
Lezak, a seven-time Olympic medalist who gave up competing at the World Championships in Rome to participate in the Maccabiah, won the men’s 100-meter freestyle on July 19 in a time of 47.78. Israel’s Nimrod Shapira Bar Or finished second in 49.02 for the silver medal, improving his Israeli record of 49.10 set at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Vandersluis, 62, who made Maccabiah history by competing in his ninth consecutive games, was part of the Australian masters’ golf team that claimed the crown July 17 in Caesarea. His previous best was a silver medal at the 1989 Games.
“Winning a gold medal at the Maccabiah will remain one of the highlights of my life,” said Vandersluis, an antiques dealer from Sydney.
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