Marina Kuč
Quick Facts
Biography
Marina Kuč (Serbian: Марина Куч; born June 20, 1985) is a Montenegrin former swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke events. She is a two-time Olympian (2004 and 2008), and member of SG Essen until 2005 and from 2005 member of Düsseldorf SC 1898 club in Düsseldorf, Germany under head coach Torsten Petsch.
Kuc made her first team for Serbia and Montenegro at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. In the 100 m breaststroke, she placed twenty-second on the morning prelims. Swimming in heat three, Kuc stormed home with an easy triumph in a lifetime best of 1:11.27, holding off Turkey's Ilkay Dikmen by almost half the body length. Three days later, in the 200 m breaststroke, Kuc failed to reach the top 8 final, as she finished her semifinal run with a slowest time of 2:31.77.
At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Kuc competed only in the 200 m breaststroke as a member of the Montenegrin squad, since her nation became a newly independent state in 2006. She posted a FINA B-standard entry time of 2:32.59 from the World Championships in Melbourne, Australia. She challenged seven other swimmers in heat two, including three-time Olympians Siow Yi Ting of Malaysia and Nicolette Teo of Singapore. She established a lifetime best of 2:31.24 to pick up a third seed by a 3.44-second deficit behind winner Siow. Kuc failed to advance into the semifinals, as she placed thirty-first overall in the prelims.