The Maccabiah record from four years ago is 57.77 secs. There are mitigating factors to the Israelis' poor performance. The gala was held early in the season, before the sportspeople had a real chance to reach their peak. The 23-year-old Aleksev, for example, regarded as the best Jewish swimmer in the world, finished sixth in the 200m breaststroke at the Seoul Olympics with a time of 2:16.7. At the national championships, he only made 2:20.62. With more practice and more opposition he could go a lot faster. in any event he should better the Maccabiah record of 2:22.01.