Ryan Cochrane of Victoria won bronze in a strange Sunday as the 2015 FINA world aquatics championships concluded in Kazan, Russia.
The Island star, silver medallist at the previous three world championships, has now won four consecutive medals in the 1,500-metre freestyle at the worlds to tie the record held by the great Grant Hackett of Australia.
In a shocker and a bit of a mystery, the world record holder and defending Olympic and world champion Sun Yang of China was a no-show for the race. Yang said a heart problem made him miss the race while some media reports have indicated he may have had a physical altercation in the pool during warm-ups.
Cochrane had been shunted by Yang to the silver medals in the 1,500-metre freestyle at the 2012 London Summer Olympics and last FINA world aquatics championships in 2013 at Barcelona.
Gregorio Paltrinieri of Italy set a European record in winning the 1,500 gold Sunday in 14:39.67, with Connor Jaeger setting a new American standard in taking silver in 14:41.20 and Cochrane also making the podium in 14:51.08.
鈥淚鈥檓 really happy to get my fourth medal in a row. It鈥檚 obviously not the colour I wanted and it was a bit of an open field,鈥� said Cochrane, in a statement through Swimming sa国际传媒.
鈥淢y times from all year have gotten better in my training. It didn鈥檛 quite translate here but the ultimate goal is the [2016 Rio] Olympics. I鈥檝e worked 10 years for that and I can take the positives. It鈥檚 great to get on the podium again, it鈥檚 not what I wanted, but it kind of incites some extra fire within for the Olympic year.鈥�
The Italian upstart has clearly upended the form chart for Rio.
鈥淚 think Paltrinieri is the one to beat for next year and it鈥檚 going to be a very hard-fought battle for that [Olympic gold] medal,鈥� said Cochrane.
Cochrane came into the world championships after having won double gold in the 400 and 1,500 metres at the recent 2015 Toronto Pan American Games, but the back-to-back events make have taken their toll physically.
鈥淚 think with our Pan Ams and then into world championships, it was just a long go. I don鈥檛 want to make excuses, but I really think I can expect best times next year with a simpler schedule,鈥� added the 26-year-old Claremont Secondary graduate.
This brings to an end an emotionally draining season that included the death this year of Cochrane鈥檚 coach, Randy Bennett, at age 51 to cancer. The two were very close friends on the pool deck and off. Bennett鈥檚 death affected the entire Victoria High Performance Training Centre at Saanich Commonwealth Place, which includes Olympians Cochrane, Hilary Caldwell, Alec Page, 2013 world-championship medallist long-distance swimmer Eric Hedlin and Jeremy Bagshaw, who made his worlds debut in Kazan.
鈥淚ndirectly, I think it鈥檚 been really hard. We went right back to work after Randy passed away because that鈥檚 what he鈥檇 want us to do. I think we did everything possible to be the best athletes we could be in the water,鈥� said Cochrane.
鈥淲e really pushed ourselves, but that being said, the emotional toll at the end of the year was tough.鈥�
The youthful Bagshaw echoed those sentiments: 鈥淚t is a motivating factor. Randy wanted us to go fast and we will swim fast in the future for him.鈥�
Earlier in the world championships, Yang won gold in the 400-metre freestyle while Cochrane captured bronze to further cement his reputation as one of the greatest Canadian swimmers of all-time. Cochrane comes away from the 2015 worlds with his 21st and 22nd career international medals in a personal pantheon that includes two medals in the Olympics, eight at the world championships, four at the Commonwealth Games, six at the Pan Pacific championships and two in the Pan Am Games.
sa国际传媒 finished with four bronze medals in swimming at the 2015 world championships 鈥� the two by Cochrane and the ones captured Sunday by rising 17-year-old Emily Overholt of West Vancouver, with a Canadian record 4:32.52 in the women鈥檚 400-metre IM, and Saturday through the mixed 4x100 freestyle relay team.
Open-water 10K swimmer Richard Weinberger, who came out of the Victoria Pacific Coast/UVic swim club to win a breakout bronze medal at the 2012 London Summer Olympics, qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics with a top-10 finish at the world championships in Kazan.
Aur茅lie Muller from France, who trained from September through February in Victoria with coach Ron Jacks鈥� Pacific Coast club, won gold in the women鈥檚 open-water 10K at the worlds in Kazan and goes into the Rio 2016 year ranked No. 1.
