Ariana Kukors
Encyclopedia
Ariana Kukors is an American swimmer
. She currently holds the world record in the 200-meter individual medley (long course).
She has won a total of seven medals in major international competition, two golds, three silvers, and two bronze spanning the World and the Pan Pacific
Championships. She won Swimming World
s American Swimmer of the Year award in 2009 with Rebecca Soni
.
in 1989, the daughter of Peter and Jaapje Kukors. Kukors began swimming at the age of five because of the influence of her older sister, Emily
, who swam for Auburn University
. Kukors also has one younger sister, Mattie, who swims for the University of Michigan
. Kukors is a 2007 graduate of Auburn Mountainview High School
in Auburn, Washington
. Kukors swam collegiately for the University of Washington
for one year, but left the program to focus on club swimming. In August 2009, Kukors relocated to Fullerton, California
to train with the Fullerton Aquatics Sports Team (FAST), after her coach Sean Hutchison was named head coach. Kukors trains alongside Katie Hoff
, Margaret Hoelzer
, and Caroline Burckle
. Kukors is sponsored by TYR.
. Her best results came in the 200 and 400-meter individual medley where she finished fifth.
and the 2007 World Aquatics Championships
by finishing in second place in the 400-meter individual medley. Kukors also placed fourth in the 200-meter individual medley and fifth in the 100-meter backstroke.
At the 2006 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Victoria, Kukors earned the first international medal of her career by finishing in second place behind compatriot Katie Hoff
in the 400-meter individual medley. The following year, Kukors competed at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships in Melbourne
, and placed fifth in the 400-meter individual medley.
At the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Kukors placed third in the 200-meter individual medley behind Katie Hoff and Natalie Coughlin
, who edged her out by eight hundredths of a second. Kukors also placed sixth in the 400-meter individual medley and the 200-meter breaststroke.
by finishing in third place in the 200-meter freestyle. In the 200-meter individual medley, Kukors placed third behind Julia Smit
and Elizabeth Pelton
. Only the top two finishers qualify to compete in one event at the FINA World Championships. However, Pelton withdrew from the event and was replaced by Kukors. Kukors also placed fourth in the 400-meter individual medley.
At the 2009 World Aquatics Championships in Rome
, Kukors won one gold and one silver medal. In her first event, the 200-meter individual medley, Kukors won gold in world record time. In the heats of the 200-meter individual medley, Kukors posted a Americas and championship record time of 2:08.53, just off Stephanie Rice
's world record of 2:08.45. In the semifinals, Kukors broke Rice's world record with a time of 2:07.03, over a second better than the previous mark. In the final of the 200-meter individual medley, Kukors won the gold and broke her own world record record with a time of 2:06.15. In her second event, Kukors won a silver medal in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay with Dana Vollmer
, Lacey Nymeyer
, and Allison Schmitt
.
For her performance in 2009, she was named the American Swimmer of the Year by Swimming World Magazine
.
by finishing first in the 200-meter individual medley and second in the 400-meter individual medley. At the 2010 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, Kukors won silver in the 200-meter individual medley, finishing behind Australian Emily Seebohm
. Kukors also finished ninth overall in the 400-meter individual medley.
At the end of 2010, Kukors competed at the 2010 FINA Short Course World Championships
in Dubai
, where she won one gold and one bronze medal. In the 100-meter individual medley, Kukors broke the championship record twice. In the final, her time of 58.95 was slightly behind her championship record time of 58.65 set in the semifinals, but was still good enough for gold. In the 200-meter individual medley, Kukors placed third behind Spaniard Mireia Belmonte and Chinese swimmer Ye Shiwen
. Kukors also competed in the 400-meter individual medley, where she finished sixth.
in Shanghai
, Kukors competed in one event, the 200-meter individual medley. She was not able to defend her 2009 crown and finished in third place behind Chinese Ye Shiwen
and Australian Alicia Coutts
with a time of 2:09.12.
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
. She currently holds the world record in the 200-meter individual medley (long course).
She has won a total of seven medals in major international competition, two golds, three silvers, and two bronze spanning the World and the Pan Pacific
Pan Pacific Swimming Championships
The Pan Pacific Swimming Championships is a long course swimming event first held in 1985. The meet was initially staged biennially , to allow for an international championship-level meet in the non-Olympic and non-World Championships years...
Championships. She won Swimming World
Swimming World magazine
Swimming World Magazine is an American-based monthly swimming magazine, that was first published in a magazine format as Junior Swimmer in January of 1960...
s American Swimmer of the Year award in 2009 with Rebecca Soni
Rebecca Soni
Rebecca Soni is an American breaststroke swimmer and three-time Olympic medalist. She currently holds the world record in the 100 and 200 m breaststroke and is a former world-record holder in the 100 and 200 m breaststroke .Soni has won a total of nineteen medals in major...
.
Personal
Kukors was born in Federal Way, WashingtonFederal Way, Washington
Federal Way is a city in King County, Washington, United States. Federal Way is located between Seattle and Tacoma. Its western boundary is Puget Sound. It is bordered by Des Moines on the north, Kent, unincorporated King County, and Milton on the east and Tacoma and Fife on the south...
in 1989, the daughter of Peter and Jaapje Kukors. Kukors began swimming at the age of five because of the influence of her older sister, Emily
Emily Kukors
Emily Nichole Kukors is an American swimmer. She is a 19-time All-American and a three-time SEC Champion. Kukors won three medals for her native country at the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Since around mid-late March 2010, she became a swim coach for Redlands Swim...
, who swam for Auburn University
Auburn University
Auburn University is a public university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 25,000 students and 1,200 faculty members, it is one of the largest universities in the state. Auburn was chartered on February 7, 1856, as the East Alabama Male College, a private liberal arts...
. Kukors also has one younger sister, Mattie, who swims for the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
. Kukors is a 2007 graduate of Auburn Mountainview High School
Auburn Mountainview High School
Auburn Mountainview High School is located on the outer edge of Auburn, a city in King County, Washington, USA. It was named after the scenic views from the school, including the Cascade Mountains, Mt. Rainier, and the Olympic Mountains.-History:...
in Auburn, Washington
Auburn, Washington
-Parks:Auburn has an extensive system of parks, open space and urban trails comprising 29 developed parks, 5 undeveloped sites under planning, 2 skate parks, 2 water roatary parks, and over of trails , and almost of open space for passive and active recreation.-Environmental Park:The Auburn...
. Kukors swam collegiately for the University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
for one year, but left the program to focus on club swimming. In August 2009, Kukors relocated to Fullerton, California
Fullerton, California
Fullerton is a city located in northern Orange County, California. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 135,161.It was founded in 1887 by George and Edward Amerige and named for George H. Fullerton, who secured the land on behalf of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway...
to train with the Fullerton Aquatics Sports Team (FAST), after her coach Sean Hutchison was named head coach. Kukors trains alongside Katie Hoff
Katie Hoff
Kathryn "Katie" Elise Hoff is an American swimmer. Hoff is strongest in the 200 and 400 meter individual medley, though she is a very capable swimmer in many events, ranging from the four 200 meter events to the 800 meter freestyle...
, Margaret Hoelzer
Margaret Hoelzer
Margaret Hoelzer is an American swimmer who competed in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, and the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.-Biography:...
, and Caroline Burckle
Caroline Burckle
Caroline Burckle is a former American college and international swimmer who was an Olympic bronze medalist.-Collegiate career:Burckle was born in Louisville, Kentucky...
. Kukors is sponsored by TYR.
2004–2005
As a fifteen-year-old, Kukors competed at the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in the 200-meter individual medley but did not advance past the semifinals, finishing 10th overall. The following year, Kukors competed at the 2005 World Championship Trials but did not qualify for the 2005 World Aquatics Championships2005 World Aquatics Championships
The 2005 World Aquatics Championships or the XI FINA World Championships were held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada from July 16 to July 31, 2005...
. Her best results came in the 200 and 400-meter individual medley where she finished fifth.
2006–2008
At the 2006 National Championships, Kukors qualified to swim at the 2006 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships2006 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships
The tenth edition of the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, a long course event, was held in 2006 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, from August 17–20. Six world records were tallied compared to one from the 2002 edition. This edition was slower than it would have been because of the...
and the 2007 World Aquatics Championships
2007 World Aquatics Championships
The 2007 World Aquatics Championships or the XII FINA World Championships were held in Melbourne, Australia from 17 March to 1 April 2007...
by finishing in second place in the 400-meter individual medley. Kukors also placed fourth in the 200-meter individual medley and fifth in the 100-meter backstroke.
At the 2006 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Victoria, Kukors earned the first international medal of her career by finishing in second place behind compatriot Katie Hoff
Katie Hoff
Kathryn "Katie" Elise Hoff is an American swimmer. Hoff is strongest in the 200 and 400 meter individual medley, though she is a very capable swimmer in many events, ranging from the four 200 meter events to the 800 meter freestyle...
in the 400-meter individual medley. The following year, Kukors competed at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, and placed fifth in the 400-meter individual medley.
At the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Kukors placed third in the 200-meter individual medley behind Katie Hoff and Natalie Coughlin
Natalie Coughlin
Natalie Anne Coughlin is an American swimmer and eleven-time Olympic medallist.At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Coughlin became the first American female athlete in modern Olympic history to win six medals in one Olympics and the first woman ever to win a 100 m backstroke gold in two consecutive...
, who edged her out by eight hundredths of a second. Kukors also placed sixth in the 400-meter individual medley and the 200-meter breaststroke.
2009
At the 2009 National Championships, Kukors only qualified to swim in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay at the 2009 World Aquatics Championships2009 World Aquatics Championships
The 2009 World Aquatics Championships or the XIII FINA World Championships were celebrated in Rome, Italy in 2009 from July 17 to August 2. The 2009 Championships featured competition in all 5 aquatics disciplines: diving, swimming, open water swimming, synchronized swimming and water polo.Rome won...
by finishing in third place in the 200-meter freestyle. In the 200-meter individual medley, Kukors placed third behind Julia Smit
Julia Smit
Julia Elizabeth Smit is an American swimmer and two-time Olympic medalist. She currently holds the world record in the 200 and 400-meter individual medley ....
and Elizabeth Pelton
Elizabeth Pelton
Elizabeth Anne Pelton is an American swimmer.-2009:At the 2009 USA Nationals and World Championship Trials, Pelton placed second in the 100 m backstroke, 200 m backstroke, and 200 m individual medley, earning berths on the US roster for the 2009 World Aquatics Championships in Rome...
. Only the top two finishers qualify to compete in one event at the FINA World Championships. However, Pelton withdrew from the event and was replaced by Kukors. Kukors also placed fourth in the 400-meter individual medley.
At the 2009 World Aquatics Championships in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, Kukors won one gold and one silver medal. In her first event, the 200-meter individual medley, Kukors won gold in world record time. In the heats of the 200-meter individual medley, Kukors posted a Americas and championship record time of 2:08.53, just off Stephanie Rice
Stephanie Rice
Stephanie Louise Rice OAM is an Australian swimmer. She currently holds the world record in the 400 m women's individual medley, and won three gold medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Rice is trained by Michael Bohl from the St Peters Western Swimming Club in Brisbane...
's world record of 2:08.45. In the semifinals, Kukors broke Rice's world record with a time of 2:07.03, over a second better than the previous mark. In the final of the 200-meter individual medley, Kukors won the gold and broke her own world record record with a time of 2:06.15. In her second event, Kukors won a silver medal in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay with Dana Vollmer
Dana Vollmer
Dana Vollmer is an American college and international swimmer and Olympic gold medalist. At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece she won a gold medal in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay with Natalie Coughlin, Kaitlin Sandeno, and Carly Piper that set the world record in the event.She has won...
, Lacey Nymeyer
Lacey Nymeyer
Lacey Pearl Nymeyer is an Olympic swimmer from the United States.-Personal:Nymeyer is a Tucson native who graduated in 2004 from Mountain View High School . She is also a graduate of the University of Arizona where she majored in physical education. Away from her own training, Nymeyer leads swim...
, and Allison Schmitt
Allison Schmitt
Allison Schmitt is an American swimmer who won a bronze medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.Schmitt has won a total of six medals in major international competition, three gold, two silver, and one bronze spanning the Olympics, the World, and the Pan Pacific Championships.-Personal...
.
For her performance in 2009, she was named the American Swimmer of the Year by Swimming World Magazine
Swimming World magazine
Swimming World Magazine is an American-based monthly swimming magazine, that was first published in a magazine format as Junior Swimmer in January of 1960...
.
2010
At the 2010 National Championships, Kukors qualified to compete at the 2010 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships2010 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships
The eleventh edition of the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, also known as the 2010 Mutual of Omaha Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, a long course event, was held in Irvine, California, United States, from August 18–22....
by finishing first in the 200-meter individual medley and second in the 400-meter individual medley. At the 2010 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, Kukors won silver in the 200-meter individual medley, finishing behind Australian Emily Seebohm
Emily Seebohm
Emily Jane Seebohm OAM is an Australian backstroke, freestyle, butterfly and individual medley swimmer.-Career:...
. Kukors also finished ninth overall in the 400-meter individual medley.
At the end of 2010, Kukors competed at the 2010 FINA Short Course World Championships
2010 FINA Short Course World Championships
The 10th FINA World Championships was held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates from 15–19 December 2010. This swimming-only championships took place in the Dubai Sports Complex; all events were swum in a 25-meter pool....
in Dubai
Dubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
, where she won one gold and one bronze medal. In the 100-meter individual medley, Kukors broke the championship record twice. In the final, her time of 58.95 was slightly behind her championship record time of 58.65 set in the semifinals, but was still good enough for gold. In the 200-meter individual medley, Kukors placed third behind Spaniard Mireia Belmonte and Chinese swimmer Ye Shiwen
Ye Shiwen
-Major achievements:*2010 Chinese Nationals – 1st 200 m individual medley*2010 China Water Games – 1st 200 m individual medley; 3rd 400 m individual medley...
. Kukors also competed in the 400-meter individual medley, where she finished sixth.
2011
At the 2011 World Aquatics Championships2011 World Aquatics Championships
The 14th FINA World Championships were held at July 16–31, 2011 in Shanghai, China at the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center. The 2011 World Championships featured five aquatics disciplines: swimming, water polo, diving, open water, and synchronised swimming...
in Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
, Kukors competed in one event, the 200-meter individual medley. She was not able to defend her 2009 crown and finished in third place behind Chinese Ye Shiwen
Ye Shiwen
-Major achievements:*2010 Chinese Nationals – 1st 200 m individual medley*2010 China Water Games – 1st 200 m individual medley; 3rd 400 m individual medley...
and Australian Alicia Coutts
Alicia Coutts
Alicia Jayne Coutts is an Australian medley, butterfly and freestyle swimmer. She represented Australia at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and the 2010 Commonwealth Games .-Career:...
with a time of 2:09.12.