Music: {allcanada} COCHRANE COMPLETES SWIMMING WORLDS WITH SECOND SILVER

Sunday, July 31, 2011

{allcanada} COCHRANE COMPLETES SWIMMING WORLDS WITH SECOND SILVER

SHANGHAI, China -- Ryan Cochrane finished the world swimming championships as Canada's most decorated athlete, but left promising better things to come at next summer's London Olympics.

The Victoria native picked up his second silver of the meet on Sunday, finishing behind a world-record performance by China's Sun Yang in the men's 1,500-metre freestyle.

"My swim today was not really where I saw myself coming into these championships," said Cochrane. "I kind of just did what I needed to do to be second place. I think you can expect a lot more for me (in the future), especially the first half of the race.

"I think that will really change up the environment when it comes to being in London."

Yang broke Grant Hackett's world record that had stood for 10 years. He surged late in the race to finish in 14 minutes 34.14 seconds -- eclipsing Hackett's mark of 14:34.56 -- and beat Cochrane by more than 10 seconds.

The Canadian plans to be aggressive in one of swimming's most gruelling races and believes he's among a group of "four or five" men who will challenge the world record again at the Olympics.

"I'm hoping going in to next year that I can lead from the start and see where that takes me," said Cochrane. "I want to stay competitive in this event. I think I was in second place after the first 100 and kind of stayed there the rest of the way."

Cochrane's podium finish capped a world championships where Canadian athletes won seven medals -- four of them in swimming.

He also won silver in the 800-metre freestyle while Brent Hayden of Mission, B.C., took silver in the 100 freestyle and Toronto's Martha McCabe earned bronze in the women's 200-metre breaststroke.

"I love being able to wear the Maple Leaf and represent my country, just make a name for myself on the international stage," said Cochrane. "It's been an exciting team to be part of here. We're proving that we can actually be on the podium in multiple instances.

"I think that's really good for the team going in to next year."

Two other Canadian medals came in diving, and one in synchronized swimming.

The only other action on Sunday saw the Canadian men's 4x100 medley relay finish seventh. That was good enough to qualify the country for a spot in that race at the Olympics.

Even though Cochrane was feeling fatigued at the end of the world championships, he wasn't planning on enjoying much of a break after the competition.

"Knowing that it is less than a year to the Olympics it will probably be three or four days off and then back to work," said Cochrane. "I'm excited about that. Usually you dread going back to the pool after a couple weeks off when you put on a bit of weight.

"I'm excited to just better where I have been at this part of the season and hopefully take the whole year to improve that position."