Itai Handler, a ninth-grade student at AMIT Ginsburg Bar Ilan Gush Dan Junior and Senior High School for Boys, Ramat Gan, came in second place in the country this week, in the 400-meter freestyle race at the Youth National Swimming Championships at the Wingate Institute.
In addition to winning that silver medal, he won the silver in the 200-meter event, which could ultimately pave the way for him to participate in the European Championships.
In response to winning, Itai shared: “When they tell you that it’s impossible, that is their boundaries, not yours. This has been my motto the entire time: ‘A great swimmer needs to start from somewhere.’ This is a milestone on the way to my big dream – the Olympics in Paris in 2024. It’s my first time on the podium in a National Championship in Israel. I’ve had this dream since I started swimming and in this competition it came true.”
Tomer Shofar, principal at AMIT Ginsburg Bar Ilan Gush Dan, proudly exclaimed: “Itai, like many of our students, develops himself in various subjects and skills beyond school hours. Itai’s advantage is that in addition to academic excellence, he is achieving accomplishments in the field of swimming on a national level, as he did today, and thanks to the help of his parents and the school, he has reached greatness and continues to dream big, both in his studies and in swimming.”
