Yakov Toumarkin

Yakov Toumarkin was born in 1992 in Chelyabinsk

Toumarkin was born in Chelyabinsk, Russia, on 15 February 1992. As a baby he moved with his family to Israel and grew up in Ashdod. As a child he also played basketball and did judo, but after a head injury in judo he focused on swimming.

He first trained with the Maccabi Ashdod swimming team under Tatiana and Gary Kalontarov. At 13 he moved to the Wingate Institute boarding school for gifted athletes in Netanya, coached by Leonid Kaufman. As of 2020 he was studying education and society at Ono Academic College.

In 2010 he won gold in the 100-meter backstroke at the European Junior Championships and two silver medals at the Youth Olympics in Singapore. In 2011 he set an Israeli record in the 200-meter backstroke at the World Championships in Shanghai, which earned him a place at the 2012 London Olympics. There he became the first Israeli swimmer to finish seventh in an Olympic final.

He competed in 3 Olympics, 5 World Championships and 8 European Championships. He won the Maccabiah Games in 2013, 2017 and 2022. He chairs the athletes' committee of the Olympic Committee of Israel.