University of Washington sophomore Ariana Kukors continued to show why she’s one of the top all-around swimmers in the country Thursday, advancing to her third final of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials at the Qwest Center, this time in the 200-meter breaststroke.

Kukors, a Mountainview High School graduate who trains locally with King Aquatic Club, finished sixth in the 200-meter breaststroke semifinal to advance to today’s final where she’ll shoot for her first Olympic berth. She’s already posted two top-eight finishes this week, placing sixth in the 400-meter individual medley on Sunday and third in the 200 IM on Wednesday, missing an Olympic berth by .08 seconds.

On Thursday, Kukors finished eighth in the preliminaries in 2 minutes, 29.47 seconds to advance to the semifinals where she shaved more than two seconds off her time, finishing sixth in 2:27.26.

Kukors did not compete in the first event she was scheduled for Thursday – the 100-meter freestyle – instead choosing to concentrate her attention on the breaststroke, the leg of the 200 IM she swam best on Wednesday night to turn in a career-best performance in narrowly missing the Olympic squad.

The rest paid off as Kukors swam a personal best in the 200-breast preliminaries. She then blew that time out of the water in the semifinals to advance to her third final of the week. She’s scheduled to compete in the 200-meter backstroke preliminaries Friday morning with UW teammate Erin Campbell after which she’ll have another shot at a trip to Beijing in tonight’s 200-meter breaststroke final.

Kukors came into the trials ranked 11th in the nation in the 200-meter breaststroke with a qualifying time of 2:29.71 but has improved that time by well over two seconds at the trials.

SCHEDULE AND RESULTS (All times Pacific)

Thursday, July 3

Preliminaries

Ariana Kukors – Women’s 100-meter freestyle – did not swim

Ariana Kukors – Women’s 200-meter breaststroke – 2:29.47 (8th, advances to semifinals)

Semifinals

Women’s 200 breast semifinal – Ariana Kukors – 2:27.26 (6th, advances to final)

Friday, July 4

Preliminaries, 9 a.m.

Ariana Kukors – Women’s 200-meter backstroke

Erin Campbell – Women’s 200-meter backstroke

Finals, 4:45 p.m.

Women’s 200-meter breaststroke FINAL – Kukors

Women’s 200-meter backstroke semifinal – Kukors, Campbell