The San Francisco squad had an impressive showing at last week’s Jewish Community Center Maccabi Games competition in Houston, winning 11 gold medals and 27 total medals.
Standout individual performances were turned in by swimmer Jessica Ivry of Orinda and gymnast Yaffa Katz-Lewis of San Francisco. Ivry nabbed eight medals, including three golds. Katz-Lewis won all of the individual events in the gymnastics competition and took home six gold medals.
The top medal winner from the San Francisco team was swimmer Ashley Gruda of Carmichael, who won three golds, six silvers and one bronze for a total of 10 medals.
The games, for kids ages 13 to 16, attract teams from as far away as Mexico, Great Britain and Israel.
The San Francisco team had one of its best showings ever, excelling in both individual and team events.
“I’d say we did pretty well,” said Larry Becker, swim team coach. “It was a fun experience for everyone.”
In the swimming events, Ivry won her golds in the relay events and nabbed a silver in the 100-meter breaststroke for 13- and 14-year-old girls.
“Competition was not as tough as it has been in the past,” said Ivry, 14, who swims competitively for the Orinda Aquatics. “I had quite a few good swims and most were personal best times.”
The highlight, however, was the thrill that came from taking part in an international competition, Ivry said.
“They make you feel so special,” Ivry said. “Walking into the opening ceremonies and just seeing smoke and streamers and lights — all these people were yelling and everyone was looking at you. It was just amazing.”
Katz-Lewis dominated the gymnastics events, scoring higher than expected, she said. The 14-year-old also helped propel her peers to two gold medals in the team competitions.
“I was surprised that the competition wasn’t a little harder,” said Katz-Lewis, who started gymnastics when she was 3 and now trains three hours every weekday.
The best part of the games was bonding with the other competitors, Katz-Lewis said. “It was great to meet people from Mexico and Detroit.”
In the team events, San Francisco took home a bronze medal in girls basketball. The boys team lost by a point in the bronze medal game.
The older boys soccer team netted a gold medal with a tense, 1-0 victory in the final. Girls soccer also won the gold, rolling to a 5-1 triumph in the final.
In the swimming relays for 15- and 16-year-olds, San Francisco grabbed golds in the girls 200 freestyle relay and the girls 200 medley relay and took a silver in the mixed 200 medley relay.
Other individual medal winners included Daniel Weisfield of Los Altos, who won bronzes in two swimming events, the 200 backstroke for 12- and 13-year-olds and the 100 freestyle for 13- and 14-year-olds.