Ivan Kurakin of Larkspur, California has made a verbal commitment to the University of California, San Diego for 2018-19. He follows his older brother Yaroslav Kurakin into collegiate swimming; an aerospace engineering student, Yaroslav swam is freshman year at Cal Poly and is now president of the Cal Poly Space Systems Team.
“I chose UC San Diego because of the combination of top-notch academics and an incredible team culture. This team is on the rise and I am excited to be a part of something very special and spend a few years of my life in beautiful San Diego. Go Tritons!!!”
Kurakin was born in Russia and moved to Marin County, not knowing a word of English, when he was 12. Now a senior at Redwood High School, he is a NISCA All-American and the school record-holder in the 500 free. At the 2017 CIF-North Coast Section Championships, Kurakin placed fourth in the 200 free (1:39.29) and sixth in the 500 free (4:30.35), before going on to the California State Meet and placing fifth in the 500 (4:28.02). He also swam breast (25.87) on Redwood’s third-place 200 medley relay and anchored the seventh-place 400 free relay at the CIF Championships.
Kurakin swims year-round for North Bay Aquatics. He excels in mid-distance freestyle, backstroke, and IM and competed at 2017 Summer Juniors in the 200/400 free, 200 back, and 200 IM. His top SCY times would score for the Tritons at the PCSC Championships in the 200 free (runner-up), 500 free (runner-up), 200 back (runner-up), 200 IM (fifth), and 400 IM (fifth). At 2017 NCAA Division II Championships he would have been a B-finalist in the 200 back and 500 free.
Top SCY times:
- 200 back – 1:47.12
- 200 free – 1:39.29
- 500 free – 4:27.04
- 200 IM – 1:52.95
- 400 IM – 4:03.88
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