Jowan Qupty

Jowan Qupty
Personal information
Nationality Israeli
Born (1990-06-06) June 6, 1990[1]
Jerusalem[2]
Sport
Sport Swimming
Strokes 200 meter breaststroke
Club Jerusalem United
College team University of Missouri
Medal record
Maccabiah Games
2009 200 m breaststroke

Jowan Qupty ("koop-tee", Arabic: جوان قبطي‎, Hebrew: ג'ואן קופטי‎; born June 6, 1990) is an Israeli Arab swimmer.[1][2] His hometown is Jerusalem.[2] He swims the breaststroke.

He is a two-time Israeli champion in the 200 m breaststroke. He and Jewish-Israeli Olympian Nimrod Shapira Bar-Or were high school roommates and best friends.

Swimming career

Qupty started swimming at a Jerusalem YMCA.[3] Swimming in Israel as a youth, his team was a mixture of Jews, Muslims, and Christians.[4]

He established records in the 200 m breaststroke in the Israeli national age group for ages 14, 15, 16, and 17.[3] At age 15, he won a gold medal in the 200 m breaststroke junior division at the 2005 Maccabiah Games.[3]

Qupty attended high school at The Bolles School, in Jacksonville, Florida, where he was 2007 Times-Union All-First Coast Florida Swimmer of the Year, and graduated in 2008.[1][2][3][5] He won the Florida high school swimming state 100 yard breaststroke championship (57.27 seconds) for the Bulldogs.[3] At 17 years of age, Quipty was ranked # 1 in the United States in the 200 yard breaststroke.[2] He missed most of the 2007–08 swim season due to a shoulder injury.

Qupty and fellow Israeli swimmer Nimrod Shapira Bar-Or had known each other when they were children, and swum together for the Jerusalem United swim club in Israel.[3][6] They attended Bolles together, where they were roommates for two years, swim team teammates, and became best friends.[3][4][6][7][8] Qupty's father, commenting on the friendship and teamwork between his Christian Arab Israeli son and his son's Jewish Israeli roommate/teammate, said: "Just to see them together after the race jumping and hugging each other; they were so happy. I was looking at them through my tears. Coming from our part of the world, you don't see that."[4] The younger Qupty observed that "people were amazed all the time" that he – a Palestinian – and a Jew could coexist, and Shapira Bar-Or said: "It shows how simple the situation is. If I can live with a Palestinian guy, I'm sure in our country we can live with a couple millions of Palestinians and Israelis together."[6]

In July 2009, he won a bronze medal in 200 m breaststroke (2:24.43), behind Israelis Tom Beeri and Daniel Malnik, in Swimming at the 2009 Maccabiah Games.[9] In December 2010, while a junior at University of Missouri, he established the Mizzou Invitational meet record in the 200 y breaststroke(1:59.56).[10]

In November 2011, he was training in hopes of qualifying to represent Israel at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.[11]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Jowan Qupty – Sports Profile". berecruited.com. June 6, 1990. Retrieved November 18, 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Jowan Qupty". Ucirvinesports.com. Retrieved November 18, 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Francine King (December 24, 2007). "Rising to the challenge". The Florida Times Union. Retrieved November 18, 2011.
  4. 1 2 3 Dan Scanlan (April 21, 2007). "Swim team shows unity exists in unlikely places". The Florida Times Union. Retrieved November 18, 2011.
  5. ↑ Francine King (October 24, 2007). "Swimming capsules". The Florida Times Union. Retrieved November 18, 2011.
  6. 1 2 3 Patrick Finley (March 22, 2010). "Israeli finds peace in, out of pool". Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved November 18, 2011.
  7. ↑ David Johnson (December 21, 2006). "All-First Coast Swimming Teams: Shapira Bar-Or switches from free throws to freestyle". Times-Union. Retrieved November 18, 2011.
  8. ↑ Francine King (October 20, 2006). "Bolles sweeps boys, girls". The Florida Times Union. Retrieved November 18, 2011.
  9. ↑ Zack Colman (July 20, 2009). "Russia shocks Pearl's hoops stars; Great Britain ousts US soccer team". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved November 18, 2011.
  10. ↑ Lassing, Alecia (December 5, 2010). "Missouri swimming teams take first at Mizzou Invitational". Columbia Missourian. Retrieved November 18, 2011.
  11. ↑ Katie Currid (November 2, 2011). "Photo". Vox Magazine. Retrieved November 18, 2011.

External links

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