Shelly Bobritsky (שלי בובריצקי; born 27 June 2001) is an Israeli Olympic swimmer who competes in Artistic swimming.[2] She competed in the 2020 Olympics in duet, was the European Champion in the free combination event in 2023, and was a three-time European medalist as well as a two-time European Cup bronze medalist.[3] Bobritsky will represent Israel at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris in artistic swimming-duet with Ariel Nassee on August 9 and 10, 2024.
Early life
Bobritsky was born in and lives in Rehovot, Israel.[4][5] She is the eldest daughter in a family of three children, with a brother Nir and a younger sister Michal.[4] She graduated high school with majors in chemistry and communication.[4]
Artistic swimming career
Bobritsky first entered a swimming pool when she was seven months old, and has been engaged in artistic swimming since the age of five years old.[4] At 11 years of age, she began competing for Israel's junior team, and in the 11th grade she became a member of Israel's senior team.[5]
2018–19
In March 2018, at 16 years of age, at the FINAArtistic Swimming World Series 2018 in Paris, France, she won a bronze medal in the Women Team Highlight.[6]
In May 2018 at the FINA Artistic Swimming World Series 2018 in Budapest, Hungary, she won a silver medal in the Women Team Highlight, and bronze medals in the Women Team Free and the Women Team Free Combination.[6]
In March 2019 at the FINA Artistic Swimming World Series 2019 in Paris, France, she won a silver medal in the Women Team Free Combination, and bronze medals in the Women Team Free, Women Team Highlight, and Women Team Technical.[6]
In April 2019 at the FINA Artistic Swimming World Series 2019 in Alexandroupolis, Greece, she won a gold medal in the Women Team Free Combination and a bronze medal in the Women Team Free.[6]
2020–21
In 2020 at the French Open artistic swimming championship in Paris, Bobritsky and Eden Blecher ranked fifth overall in the free duet and seventh in the technical duet.[7]
On April 11, 2021, at the FINA Artistic Swimming World Series 2021 in Budapest, Hungary, she won bronze medals in the Women Duet Free, the Women Duet Technical, and the Women Team Free.[6]
In April 2022 at the FINA Artistic Swimming World Series 2022 in Paris, France, she won a gold medal in the Women Team Free Combination, a silver medal in the Women Duet Free, and bronze medals in the Women Team Technical, Women Team Free, and Women Duet Technical.[6]
In May 2022 at the FINA Artistic Swimming World Series 2022 in Australia, she won a gold medal in the Mixed Team Free Combination, silver medals in the Women Duet Free, Women Team Free, and Women Duet Technical, and a bronze medal in the Women Team Technical.[6]
Later in May 2022 at the FINA Artistic Swimming World Series 2022 - Super Final in Athens, Greece, she won a gold medal in the Women Team Free, silver medals in the Mixed Team Free Combination and the Women Team Technical, and bronze medals in the Women Duet Free and the Mixed Team Highlight/Acrobatic.[6]
In August 2022 at the European Championships in Rome, Italy, she won a silver medal in the Women Team Free Combination.[12]
2023
In March 2023 at the World Aquatics Artistic Swimming World Cup in Markham, Canada, Bobritsky and Ariel Nassee won the Women's Duet Technical gold medal and a Duet Free bronze medal, and she won a bronze medal in the team technical.[6][13][1][12]
On May 7, 2023, at the World Aquatics Artistic Swimming World Cup 2023 in the team free she won a silver medal in Montpellier, France.[6]
In June 2023, at the World Aquatics Artistic Swimming World Cup 2023 Super Final in Oviedo, Spain, in the Women Duet Free she won a gold medal, and in the Technical Duet event, Bobritsky and fellow Israeli Ariel Nassee won the gold medal with 225.7915 points.[6][14] Bobritsky said: "We knew we could win the gold. We are fighting for a medal, so we brought everything we had into this moment. We were focused."[14]
On July 5, 2023, she won a silver medal in the team free at the World Aquatics Artistic Swimming World Cup 2023 in France with a personal best score of 356.3647.[6]
2024–present
On April 7, 2024, she won a gold medal with Ariel Nassee in the Women's Duet Free at the World Aquatics Artistic Swimming World Cup 2024 in Beijing, China.[6]