Auburn's Kukors reaches 200 IM final at London Games
July 31, 2012 · Updated 11:20 AM
Auburn's Ariana Kukors qualified for the women's 200-meter individual medley final today at the London Olympics.
Kukors finished fourth in her semifinal race, but her time – 2 minutes, 10.08 seconds – was the fourth quickest, pushing her to the final field of eight swimmers. In fact, Kukors' time was faster than the first semifinal race winner, Hungary's Katinka Hosszú (2:10.74).
The finals are scheduled for 12:39 p.m. Tuesday.
Kukors' teammate, Caitlin Leverenz, qualified for the finals. Leverenz edged Kukors in the semifinal with a time of 2:10.06.
China's Ye Shiwen won the semifinal against the two Americans with a qualifying time of 2:08.39, an Olympic record.
"I definitely have (Ye Shiwen) on my radar," Kukors said after the semifinals. "I'm very much looking forward to racing her (in the final) and I'm going to be on the look out for her in the last 50 (meters)."
Kukors posted a 2:11.94 in her qualifying heat earlier today, earning a spot in the semifinals.
Kukors, an Auburn Mountainview graduate and former Pac-10 champion at the University of Washington, is the world record holder in the 200 IM (2:06.15, set in 2009, Rome).
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