KAZAN, Russia – Canada’s most decorated swimmer of all time added a new medal to his collection Sunday at FINA World Championships in Kazan, Russia.
Ryan Cochrane of the Swimming Canada High Performance Centre – Victoria took bronze in the men’s 400-m freestyle in a time of 3:44.59. It marks his seventh medal all-time at worlds – most all-time by a Canadian – and first in the 400.
“It wasn’t the best time but it’s nice to get on the podium. That’s what I’ve worked for 10 years in this event is to try to grab a medal,” said Cochrane, competing at his fifth world championships.
The 26-year-old has seen his results in the event progress from 18th in 2007, to seventh in 2009, to fifth in 2011, to an agonizing fourth in 2013 in Barcelona. Cochrane was just 0.17 behind American Connor Jaeger in that race, but out-touched him by 0.22 for the medal this time around. Sun Yang of China defended his world title in a time of 3:42.58, followed by Great Britain’s James Guy (3:43.75).
HPC-Victoria Head Coach Ryan Mallette, who took over after the late Randy Bennett lost his battle with cancer earlier this year, reflected on Cochrane’s accomplishment.
“It was great to see Ryan get his first world championship medal in the 400 free and it’s a big step for him,” Mallette said. “It’s a culmination of a lot of years of work starting with Randy obviously and with the fantastic team that we have in Victoria. They work hard every day and they all had a part in this.”
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