USC's Soni strong in 100 breaststroke semifinals

USC senior Rebecca Soni was only allowed to swim the 100-meter breaststroke after Trojan Swim Club teammate Jessica Hardy withdrew from the U.S. Olympic team following a positive test for Clenbuterol.

Soni, a 200 breaststroke specialist, continued to make the most of her opportunity Monday morning at the National Aquatics Center -- aka "The Water Cube" -- by winning her semifinal heat in 1 minute, 7.07 seconds to qualify second for the championship heat behind Australian star and world-record holder Leisel Jones (1:05.80).

Jones set the bar high with an Olympic record 1:05.64 in the prelims, sending a message that she would be ready to challenge her world record of 1:05.09 set at the Australian Olympic trials in March.

Although it appears the 2000 Olympic silver medalist and 2004 bronze medalist cruised through the semifinals, becoming the first woman to post a sub-1:05 clocking in the final is not out of the question.

Soni, who qualified fourth after the prelims with a 1:07.44, demonstrated that a medal in the event is also a strong possibility following her semifinal effort and the fact that she clocked 1:06.87 in the semifinals of the U.S. Olympic trials.

Austria's Mirna Jukic qualified third in 1:07.27, ahead of Australian Tarnee White (1:07.48), who clocked 1:06.04 at the Australian trials in March to become the No. 2 all-time performer in event history.

Russian teenage standout Yuliya Efimova, who was second behind Jones after the prelims with a European record 1:06.08 -- No. 3 all-time performer -- backed off a bit and qualified in 1:07.50.

China's Sun Ye, the surprise of the prelims, qualified for the final in 1:07.72 and Megan Jendrick, the 2000 Olympic gold medalist, kept her dream of another medal alive by clocking the seventh-fastest time of 1:08.07.