Gold medalist US Ariana Kukors celebrates on the podium of the women's 200m individual medley final at the FINA World Swimming Championships in Rome. (MARTIN BUREAU/AFP)

ROME, July 27, 2009 (AFP) - Ariana Kukors won the women's 200m individual medley title with a blistering world record of 2 minutes and 06.15 seconds on Monday - not bad for someone who didn't even qualify to swim the event.

The American had lowered the world mark to 2:07.03 in Sunday's semi-finals, and in the final she out-gunned Australia's triple Olympic gold medallist Stephanie Rice for the crown.

"I'm very happy with my swim," said Kukors, who missed out on a top-two finish at the US trials but got the nod to swim the event when Elizabeth Pelton withdrew.

"I was only able to swim this event because of a scratch from one of my teammates so I really took advantage of that opportunity and each chance I get to race in such an amazing field it's really exciting and I just wanted to get my hand on the wall," she said.

Rice led after the opening butterfly leg, but Kukors took control on the backstroke and held off Rice for the win.

"I just really raced the race, raced the girls," Rice said of her approach after Kukors shattered Rice's previous world record of 2:08.45 in Sunday's semi-finals.

"Obviously seeing Ariana swim last night, she had a fantastic time. I definitely knew it was going to be around 2:06 tonight," added Rice, who called Kukors's time "mind-blowing."

Rice herself locked 2:07.03 - the exact same time Kukors posted in the semi-finals.

Rice won the medley double and swam in the women's 4x200m freestyle relay win, all set in world record time, at the Beijing Olympics.

But the 21-year-old had a chequered preparation for the world titles since taking an extended break after the Olympics last August.

She was troubled by a shoulder injury and other minor illness when she returned to the pool late last year, which put her training behind schedule for the world championships.