Saori Haruguchi isn't promising she'll medal in the women's 400-meter individual medley at the upcoming Beijing Olympic Games.

"We will see how it goes," the 21-year-old Oregon State junior said recently. "One sure thing is, I am going to train hard again and I will do my best.

"It is a very big honor to be an Olympian. I'm proud of representing my country and I want to do well."

She won't have long to wait once the games begin on Friday. The 400 IM preliminaries are scheduled for 10:30 p.m. Saturday (7:30 a.m. PDT). The finals are set for 10 a.m. on Aug. 10 (7 p.m. PDT Aug. 9).

OSU coach Larry Leibowitz, who will be in Beijing to watch his protege, said Haruguchi is ranked somewhere in the top 12-to-15 in the world in the 400 IM, which consists of 100-meters each of the butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle, in that order.

"But with only two swimmers per country competing in each event, she'll probably go into the Olympics ranked 10th or 11th," he said.

"A top-8 finish is not out of the question at all, but she'll have a much better swim than she had in Japan," when she won the Olympic trials in 4:38.94.

"She'll have to improve another 3-to-4 seconds" to crack the top 8.

The Associated Press predicts Katie Hoff of the United States will win gold, that Stephanie Rice of Australia will win silver and Elizabeth Beisel of the United States will win the bronze.

Haruguchi is the second OSU women's swimmer to qualify for the Olympics. Seven-time All-American Birte Steven (2001-04) competed for Germany in the 200 breaststroke during the 2004 Athens games and advanced to the semifinals.

Beijing will cap a spectacular season for the native of Fukuoka, Japan. She set school records in the 100 and 200 freestyle, the 100 and 200 backstroke, the 100 and 200 butterfly, the 200 and 400 IM and two relays, and became OSU's first NCAA women's swimming champion when she captured the 200 butterfly on March 24.

She also placed sixth in the 400 IM and seventh in the 200 IM, led the Beavers to 21st place in the team standings, and subsequently won the Japanese national championship in the 400 IM to qualify for Beijing.

"She about owns our record board now," Leibowitz said. "She was amazingly focused. She started with the big goals in mind, and pretty much stayed focused the whole year.

"(The Olympics) are the pinnacle of what you strive for as far as an athletic achievement," Leibowitz said. "To be part of the Olympics and possibly make a finals is a big thrill."