Kuchkarova Breaks Uzebekistani Record During Asian Games Performance

Kansas sophomore Yulduz Kuchkarova set a personal-best time and broke her own Uzbekistan national record at the Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea last week. Kuchkarova swam a total of three events: the 200-, 100- and 50-meter backstroke—the latter in a record-setting time of 29.31.

“We knew the 50 back was going to be really good,” Kansas head coach Clark Campbell said, “and it was, it was outstanding. When you get a top-eight swim at an international competition and you set a national record, that’s all smiles.”

Kuchkarova placed eighth in the 50-meter and tenth overall in the 100- and 200-meter backstroke. Her time of 1:03.18 in the 100-meter backstroke and 2:20.78 in the 200-meter backstroke was right around where she was expected to be according to Campbell, given the short training schedule.

“We knew going in that this was going to be a tough meet for her because we basically only had three weeks of preparation,” Campbell said. “This meet we had days to get ready when normally you have months to prepare. September is a tough time of the year to have a championship meet on our schedule. In that part of the world, they revolve their training around that competition, but here we are on a different calendar. I was so pleased with how she did with limited preparation going into the meet; she did a really good job at taking advantage of the opportunity.”

Campbell and the team were able to communicate with Kuchkarova over Twitter and a messaging app throughout the week. Now back in Lawrence, she and the team look forward to kicking off the season with the annual intrasquad meet this Friday, October 3 in Robinson Natatorium.

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