Auburn swimmer determined to make Olympic team

A finger nail. That’s how close Ariana Kukors was from making the 2008 U.S. Olympic swim team and competing in Beijing. The Auburn native is driven to make sure she represents her country in this summer’s London games.

Ariana and her sisters were jumping in the local pools at a very young age. Learning to swim is something the 22-year-old believes is very important for all children living in Western Washington.

“We need to be water safe because there are so many water activities we can do here,” said Kukors in an interview with 710 ESPN Seattle interview. “I learned to swim when I was five because my parents had a boat and it was important.”

Ariana is meeting with young swimmers at the YMCA in Everett between 3-5 p.m. on Wednesday. She will be signing swim caps, sharing her water safety message, and talking about the steps to pursue life goals.

Kukors set several school records while swimming for the University of Washington in 2007 and 2008. She transferred to Chapman University in California to get her business administration degree and continue her athletic dreams.

As an 18-year-old, Ariana came up eight-hundredths (.08) of a second short of becoming a United States Olympian. She decided right away to use the narrow defeat as motivation.

“The thing I learned the most from that was I can’t dwell on the set back, or it would eat me alive. I needed to learn something from it and add value to my life not only as a swimmer, but a person.”

Apparently the lesson sunk in quickly, as Ariana set the world record in her specialty, the 200 meter individual medley. That’s a combination of freestyle, backstroke, butterfly, and breaststroke. Her time of 2:06:15 has not been broken in the past two years.

There is plenty of sacrifice to set world records and compete in the Olympics.

Kukors recalled, “I did go to slumber parties with my girlfriends, but my parents would pick me up at 4:30 a.m. to go to morning practice while every one was sleeping. I did make a lot of sacrifices, but I also have a great social life, and I think it’s important to learn that balance.”

We’re just 100 days from the start of the London Olympics, and Ariana Kukors can’t hide her strong desire to win the U.S. qualifying race in Omaha, Nebraska.

“I think back to four years ago and I was really anxious, in a bad way. I felt like it was a big thing that was looming over me. This time I’ve learned so much from that experience, and my international experience, and I’m very excited to make it go.”