Adam Maraana
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 Adam Maraana in Netanya (June 2024) | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Israeli |
| Born | 7 July 2003 Haifa, Israel[1] |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Swimming |
| Strokes | Backstroke |
| Club | Maccabi Haifa |
| College team | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (committed) |
| Coach | Carmel Levitan |
Medal record | |
Adam Maraana (אדם מראענה; born 7 July 2003) is an Arab-Israeli swimmer.[2] At the 2019 European Youth Olympics he won a bronze medal in the 100-metre backstroke. He won a 2023 European U-23 championship bronze medal in the 100 back, and in 2024 he matched the Israeli record in the 100 back. Maraana will represent Israel at the 2024 Summer Olympics at the La Défense Arena in Paris in swimming in the men's 100 metre backstroke on 28 and 29 July 2024. Maraana says that in this dark time he can succeed as a goodwill "mini-ambassador".[3][4]
Early and personal life
Maraana was born and lives in Haifa, Israel, and is an Arab citizen of Israel.[5] He lives in Haifa, Israel.[6][7] His father, named Nazi Maraana, is a Muslim Arab-Israeli and manages a beach in the Bat Galim neighborhood of Haifa, and his mother Alexandra Nikonov is Jewish and teaches piano; both are Israeli citizens.[8][9][10][11][12] His parents met on a beach in Haifa.[13] His father is very much in favor of his representing the State of Israel.[14][15]
Maraana said: "I am Israeli and come from a mixed city, and things like this happen when a Jew marries a Muslim woman and vice versa. The beauty of this city, in this country where there is so much mixing."[16][17][18] He served in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in the Israeli Navy, despite having had the opportunity not to serve (because his father is Arab and the IDF exempts the Arab community from the draft), but he refused.[19][20][21] He said: "Even though I could get away with it because my father is Arab-Muslim, I didn't choose to use it, and I wanted to contribute my part - everyone joins the army, so why shouldn't I join? I didn't want to feel different, and I came to contribute."[22][23][24]
His younger sister Ella was a rhythmic gymnast.[25][26][27] Arabs make up more than 20% of the population in Israel.[28][29]
Swimming career
His father threw him in the water when he was three years old, to teach him to swim.[30][31] His swim club in Israel is Maccabi Haifa.[32] Maraana trains at Israel's Wingate Institute near Netanya, where his coach is Carmel Levitan.[33][34][35][36] He said that "When I stood at the podium after the Israeli championships and heard the national anthem, tears fell from my eyes. At the multi-nation competition where I was first on the podium, I took the flag and held it tight. I sang the national anthem proudly and said it was the craziest moment in my life."[37][38][39]
2019–23; European U-23 championship bronze medal
At the 2019 European Youth Olympic Festival, Maraana won a bronze medal at 16 years old in Baku, Azerbaijan in the 100m backstroke in a time of 56.63.[40][41] In 2020 at the 54e Challenge International de Geneve in Switzerland, he won the gold medal in the 50 back with a time of 57.16, and the silver medal in the 200 back with a time of 2:06.29.[42] At the 2020 Israeli Olympic Qualification Meet at the Wingate Institute, at 17 years old he won the gold medal in the backstroke as he swam a time of 55.64.[43]
At the 2021 Union Cup in Israel, at 18 years of age Maraana set a new Israeli junior record in the 100 back with a time of 55.07.[44] At the 2022 Malmsten Swim Open Stockholm in Sweden, he won the gold medal in the 50 back in a time of 25.98.[45]
Maraana won a bronze medal in the 2023 European U-23 Swimming Championships in Dublin, Ireland in the 50-meter backstroke with a time of 25.30.[46][47] At the same competition he swam the 100m backstroke in 54.31, coming in fifth.[48][49] He won a bronze medal at the 2023 Israeli Championships in the 100 back in a time of 54.92.[50]
2024–present; Israeli record
In January 2024 at the 57th Challenge International de Geneve in Switzerland, Maraana won a gold medal in the 50 back, with a time of 25.65.[51] In April 2024 at the Eindhoven Qualification Meet in the Netherlands, he won the gold medal in the 100 back in a time of 54.62, and a bronze medal in the 50 back in a time of 25.34, which through July 2024 was the third-fastest Israeli time at the distance.[52][53][54][55]
In June 2024, at 20 years of age he won the 100m backstroke gold medal at the Israeli Olympic Trials with a time in the preliminaries of 53.60 at the Wingate Institute.[56][57][58] Maraana's time matched the Israeli record set by Olympian Yakov Toumarkin seven years earlier.[59] He qualified to swim in the 100-meter backstroke in the 2024 Paris Olympics, as he swam faster than the the Olympic ‘A’ cut of 53.74.[60] He said: "I surprised myself. I’m very happy."[61][62]
Maraana has committed to attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the fall of 2024.[63][64] He will swim for coach and former two-time Olympic gold medalist Mark Gangloff on the North Carolina Tar Heels.[65]
His best personal time in the 100 back is 53.24, which Maraana swam in 2021 at 18 years of age.[66]
Maraana says that in this dark time he believes that he can succeed as a goodwill "mini-ambassador".[67][68] He said: "I'm proud to represent Israel, I feel a bit like a mini-ambassador, and I'm proud of it. As someone who came out of the Arab community and considers himself Israeli, I am the best proof of the integration of both communities."[69]
2024 Paris Olympics
Maraana will represent Israel at the 2024 Summer Olympics at the La Défense Arena in Paris in swimming in the men's 100 metre backstroke on 28 and 29 July 2024.[70]
See also
- Eduard Meron, Arab-Israeli Olympic weightlifter
- Rifaat Turk, Arab-Israeli Olympic footballer
- Iyad Shalabi, Arab-Israeli Paralympic swimmer
- List of Israeli records in swimming
References
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- ^ "Israel's delegation to the 2024 Paris Olympic Games". Wingate Institute (in Hebrew). 25 June 2024. Archived from the original on 26 June 2024. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
External links
- Adam Maraana at SwimCloud
- Adam Maraana on Instagram
Category:2003 births
Category:Living people
Category:21st-century Israeli sportsmen
Category:Arab citizens of Israel
Category:Israeli male swimmers
Category:Israeli male backstroke swimmers
Category:Israeli Navy personnel
Category:Sportspeople from Haifa
Category:Wingate Institute alumni