BARCELONA, Spain – Canada’s Ryan Cochrane set a course record whilst posting 2015’s sixth-best time in men’s 800-metre freestyle on Thursday at the Mare Nostrum Series.

At Barcelona, the 26-year-old Cochrane continued his preparation for next month’s Pan Am Games and world championships by winning the 800 freestyle in in seven minutes 52.51 seconds, more than 3 1/2 seconds ahead of Great Britain’s Stephen Milne (7:56.12) and South Africa’s Myles Brown (7:58.35). The two-time Olympic medallist also took more than five seconds off the previous pool record of 7:58.32 set in 2011.

Cochrane’s win was the first of two medals for Canadians based at the High Performance Centre – Victoria. Hilary Caldwell, 24, won silver in women’s 200-m backstroke.

Caldwell, 24, posted a time of 2:09.36, finishing second after the Iron Lady, Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu, who touched the wall at 2:08.41. Caldwell kept her podium position by holding off a push from Great Britain’s Elizabeth Simmonds (2:10.14) during the final 25 metres.

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