ROME — Ariana Kukors of the United States closed out another speedy night at the pool, breaking her 24-hour-old world record in the 200-meter individual medley.

Kukors beat Olympic champion Stephanie Rice of Australia with a time of 2 minutes, 6.15 seconds on Monday, nearly a full second ahead of the American’s record showing in the semifinals, 2:07.03.
Kukors didn’t even qualify for the 200 IM at the U.S. championships this month, but she got in when teammate Elizabeth Pelton decided to scratch to focus on the 100 backstroke. Not a good move by Pelton, who was knocked out of that event in the semifinals.
Five more world records were set on Day 2 of the world championships, the last with high-tech bodysuits. That brings the total to 11.