Competing Below Sea Level - the Maccabiah Games

Temperatures in the high 30s (Celsius) greeted the 41 athletes ? 25 of them from Israel – who competed over the 2,000 metre course at the Naval Centre of Bet Yerach at the southern end of the lake in Kinneret.

Dominating the competition was Dr. Jonathan Werner of the United States. Werner competed at the 1993 Maccabiah Games and since then has won races in the United States and Canada. He has also coached at the national level and at Kinneret Werner competed in all of the four categories for men.

Maccabean organiser and FISA umpire Daniel Rutenberg (48) competed in the men’s four for Israel against his son who raced in a mixed country crew. With the United States crew out in front, father and son battled for silver. Son, Guy (16) got the edge finishing second ahead of his father.

The four day competition began with an almost complete domination by American crews with their rowers taking gold in almost every event they entered. But on the final day Israel’s women’s quad finished ahead of the United States. This was Israel’s first gold of the regatta and the first ever gold for Israeli women in rowing at the Maccabiah.

 The crew of Tatiana Omok and Oksana Mishcenko, who competed at the 2001 World Rowing Championships, along with Sara Peleg and Osnat Katzauer, won by a comfortable three lengths.

The Israeli men’s quad then went on to win over the US crew which gave Werner his only defeat of the regatta.

Final medal tally:
U.S.A.           – 7 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze
Israel             – 2 gold, 7 silver, 5 bronze
Argentina      – 1 gold
Britain           – 1 bronze
Mixed crew* – 3 bronze
*Mixed crews were made up with rowers from Britain, Hong Kong, Israel and Poland.

Information thanks to Osnat Katzauer

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