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Israeli Olympian To Try Again

Franklin Athletic Club swim instructor readies for 2016.

Michael Higer

JN Intern

N

imrod "Nim" Shapira's jour-
ney from Olympic swimmer
to specialized swimming
instructor at Franklin Athletic Club in
Southfield followed an unexpected path.
Shapira was born on a farm in
Ashdod, south of Tel Aviv. His parents
taught him what it took to get back on
his feet after facing an obstacle.
As a kid, I always saw what it is to go
up and fall down, go up again and try to
rebuild all the time Shapira said.
Shapira played competitive basketball,
earning a full scholarship to play for
Maccabi Tel Aviv. At age 11, a severe
knee injury ended his court career.
While rehabbing in an aquatic center,
his basketball coach noticed he had a
knack for swimming and suggested he
try out for a team.
"To start swimming at 11 is very
hard:' Shapira said. "When the manager
did my evaluation and saw I was already
tall and developed, he said, 'You know I
don't think he can be on the swim team.
I think it's a little bit too late: There
was this old man who came running
down the stairs screaming something in
Russian. I didn't know what he said, but
he was a coach for the team, and pretty
much the translation of what he told
that manager was 'That's going to be my
first Olympian swimmer in Israel7
The old man happened to be the
coach for the Soviet Union national
team — a Jewish coach who had always
wanted to live in Israel. That day had a
large influence on Shapira's path.
"It was total luck to fall on a coach
like that:' he said. "It's very special to
look back at it now"
Shapira trained with the coach for
two years; by age 12, he was already
breaking Israeli age group records that
still stand today.
At 13, he moved to England to train
at the National Institute of Sport. After
two years, his coach there advised him
to move to the United States so he could
train at the Olympic level. He moved
to Jacksonville, Fla., and studied at the
Bolles School, a boarding school known
for its academics and athletics.
At age 18, he competed in the 2008
Olympic Games in Beijing, representing
Israel in both the 100 and 200 meter
freestyle. He finished 26th overall in the
100 meter. In the 200 meter, he unex-
pectedly won his heat and became the
first Israeli in Olympic history to reach
the semi-finals. Although he lost his

18 July 24 • 2014

JN

Olympian Nim Shapira with a mascot from Franklin Athletic Club's AquaClub

next heat, racing with Michael Phelps,
he came away positively from the expe-
rience.
Shapira raced four years later at the
Olympic Games in London, but a back
injury kept him from performing at the
level he was at in 2008.
Shapira went on to swim and study
at the University of Arizona, where he
was a national champion and 10-time
All-American. There he met his now-
fiancee Katherine Larson. Following
graduation, Larson found a job at a
dance studio in Rochester, Mich., and
Shapira reluctantly moved with her.
"At the time, I was super afraid to
move to Michigan with her because
all I knew about Michigan was snow. I
lived in Israel, England, Jacksonville and
Tucson, so I was always used to the sun:'
he said.
Shapira took a class in coaching and
decided that would be his career path.
He contacted a local synagogue, look-
ing for people with a common interest
in swimming. He was directed to the
Franklin Athletic Club (FAC), where he
met Itzi Saar, vice president and general
manager.
"From the first time we met we had
plenty of things in common," Saar said.
"Nim told me about his vision of build-
ing swim teams and swim schools. I
believed his thinking and energy would
be a perfect fit to the FAC aquatic pro-
gram. Two months later, Nim started
AquaClub at Franklin and now, after five
months, we have 200-plus happy swim-
mers:"
At the AquaClub, Shapira has a spe-
cialized idea for his class that sets it
apart from other swim clubs.

"AquaClub is not about teaching your
kids how to float. It's about teaching
your kids how to swim safely, how to
have fun while they're learning from the
process. It's more the bigger picture:'
According to Saar, Shapira has not
only served as an excellent swim teacher
but someone to look up to as well.
"Nim has worked with many kids,
and we hear nothing but smiles and
happiness:' she said. "As an athlete with
such high achievements, Nim is a role
model to our kids and their parents.
Nim makes sure our kids are good
swimmers but also wants them to be
good people and lead by example:'
Classes are open for all ages, start-
ing with his AquaBabies class for age 4
months.
Shapira also offers need-based schol-
arships for his classes. "Every clinic that
we do, a kid in need gets a clinic. There
is no way in the world I would've been
where I'm at today without the support
of scholarships, and it's really important
to me to give back to that:'
Shapira also opened an AquaClub
at Oxford High School in March. The
classes are taught by him and three oth-
ers with at least 15 years of swimming
experience.
He has already begun training for the
2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil.
"I'm gradually building my way to
2016. I want to get there and do the best
I've ever done in the sport. Me teaching
the kids, it's also me learning. I learn
from the parents, I learn from the kids,
and I think if I continue down the path
I am now, I will get to 2016 and be very
successful."

❑

Beth El Installs New
President And Board
On June 27, Steven
Weiner was installed as
president of Temple
Beth El in Bloomfield
Township. Weiner and
his family have been
members since relocat-
ing to Michigan from
Steven Weiner
Florida in 1996.
Together with his
brother, Evan, Steve works at the Edw. C.
Levy Co., where he manages real estate,
environmental and legal affairs. He was
previously a real estate development
executive at the Walt Disney Company in
Florida.
Other officers installed were First Vice
President John Kessler; Vice Presidents
David Foltyn, E. Todd Sable and Jordon
Wertheimer; Treasurer Robin Fenberg
and Secretary Liz Modell. Newly installed
members of the board of trustees include
Steven Craig, Cheryl Kerwin, Rae
Monchnik and Mike Sher.
At the meeting, two members were
honored with the President's Cup. Debris
Weinstein is chair of Beth El's Mitzvah
Meal program, now celebrating the deliv-
ery of more than 100,000 meals to needy
Jews. Ten-year Cantorial Soloist Rachel
Gottlieb Kalmowitz is currently in Israel,
completing the final phase of her studies
to become a cantor.

B'nai Israel Synagogue
Names Board, Officers
On June 17, B'nai Israel Synagogue in
West Bloomfield elected the following
members to its board of directors for a
one-year term: Joanna Abramson, Steve
Dines, Frank Ellias, Vicki Freedman,
Mark Kuhn, Warren Lada, David Pappas,
Ruby Robinson and Debra Singer.
Officers elected were Ellias, president;
Kuhn, vice president; Robinson, treasurer;
and Singer, secretary. Linda Jacobson will
serve as executive director.

Temple Kol Ami Elects
New Board Of Trustees
Temple Kol Ami has named its new board
members for 2014-2015.
The executive board officers are Paul
Gross and Howard Katz, co-presidents;
Harvey Leven, first vice president; Tom
Vorenberg, second vice president; Gene
Farber, third vice president; Miriam
Leary, treasurer; Kineret Gable, secretary;
and Karee Strome, past president.
General board trustees include
Armonite Albalak, Chris Bocker, Ellen
Craine-Rostker, Chriss Golden, Sue
Farber, Chuck Freedman, David Higer,
Amy Klein, Rhonda Kotzen, Rick Rubin,
Lee Schottenfels, Andy Spilkin, Jim
Stegman, Irene Swerdlow-Freed and Alan
Wormser.