Courtesy: Maccabi USA
Philadelphia, PA – Maccabi USA is seeking Jewish swimmers to represent the United States at the 21st Maccabiah Games in Israel, July 12-26, 2022. Maccabi USA will be fielding teams at the Open age division (ages 17-35) for men and women, and Masters (ages 35+) age division for men and women. To see eligibility guidelines and how to apply please visit www.maccabiusa.com.
The Open Swimming team will be led by Head Coach, Doug Markoff, Coach at Rockville Swim Club, and Assistant Coach, Haley Mitchell, Head Coach of Occidental College. The Masters team will be led by team Chair and Captain, Miriam Leitko.
According to Marshall Goldman, Co-chair for swimming, “We have put together a first-class coaching staff that will provide tremendous guidance for our swimmers on an international stage”. All of our swimming team members will be part of the overall USA Team that will be 1,200+ members strong, and the largest Maccabiah yet.
The 21st World Maccabiah Games are the world’s third largest international sporting event and will consist of over 10,000 athletes from 75 countries participating in 42 different sports. To learn more about the sports and age divisions offered, please visit www.maccabiusa.com.
The Maccabiah Games is more than an international sporting competition; it is a celebration of Jewish culture, unity and pride. ISRAEL CONNECT, Maccabi USA’s unique cultural and educational program takes place for seven days prior to the start of the Games. All Juniors, Youth, Open and Paralympic athletes participate in the program where they have the opportunity to tour historical and religious sites, take part in cultural identity seminars and train with their teams, all while developing lifelong relationships. Previous participants have included Anthony Ervin, Jason Lezak, Lenny Krayzelburg, Garrett Weber-Gale, Mark Spitz and many more national level athletes.
The first Maccabiah was held in in Ramat Gan in 1932 with 390 athletes from 18 countries taking part. Traditionally held every four years, interrupted only by the Second World War, by 2017 the Games had grown to include nearly 10,000 Jewish athletes from more than 75 countries competing in 40 sports, making it the third largest international multi-sport event in the world following only the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup. The Maccabi USA delegation to the 20th Maccabiah in the summer of 2017 numbered 1,131 members, the largest traveling delegation in the history of not just Jewish sporting events but all international multi-sport competitions.
For more information, please contact:
- Open swimmers: Doug Markoff, [email protected]
- Masters Swimmers: Miriam Leitko, [email protected]
- Maccabi USA Program Director: Steven Graber, [email protected]