Representing the United States at the Maccabiah Games in Israel, three current and two former Wolverines took home gold medals. Madeline Kaplan ’14, Leo Kaplan ’16, and Charlie Horowitz ’17 won gold in open women’s softball, junior baseball, and junior epee respectively, while alumni Jeff Schwimer ’07 and James McNamara ’10 won gold with Team USA in open men’s water polo.

The tournament lasted from July 17 to July 30 and Jewish athletes from across the globe were there to represent their countries and take part in the third largest sports event in the world. Leo was part of the junior baseball team, which took home a gold medal early in the games by defeating Canada.

Madeline started in right field and batted second amongst a U.S. softball squad that was primarily made up of college athletes. The softball team finished with an undefeated record in tournament play and, like her younger brother, the rising senior clinched the gold with her team by defeating Canada in the finals 4-0.

“Our toughest competition was Canada because they had a good college level pitcher, but for the most part we were pretty dominant. We were undefeated throughout the whole tournament,” Madeline said. “I enjoyed meeting other Jewish athletes from all over the world. One of my favorite memories was walking around the stadium at Opening Ceremonies and hearing 30,000 people in the stands cheering USA.”

Schwimer and McNamara helped the U.S. water polo team win all six of its games, ending with a 9-3 win over Israel in the finals.