Before winning bronze in the 400-metre freestyle race, Ryan Cochrane, Canada’s most decorated swimmer, had never won a medal at that distance.FRANCOIS XAVIER MARIT/AFP / Getty Images
Canada's Ryan Cochrane added a new medal to his collection Sunday.
The 26-year-old from Victoria won bronze in the men's 400-metre freestyle at the FINA World Championships.
The country's most decorated swimmer had never won a medal at that distance.
"It wasn't the best time, but it's nice to get on the podium," Cochrane said. "That's what I've worked for 10 years in this event to try to grab a medal."
Cochrane touched in 3 minutes 44.59 seconds. China's Sun Yang won the gold in 3:42.58, while James Guy of Britain claimed the silver in 3:43.76.
Cochrane is an Olympic silver and bronze medalist, and is coming off a three-medal performance at the Pan American Games in Toronto.
"It was great to see Ryan get his first world championship medal in the 400 free and it's a big step for him," coach Ryan 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."
Mallette took over as head coach of the Victoria High Performance Centre after long-time coach Randy Bennett died of cancer earlier this year.
Sydney Pickrem followed up by lowering her national 200 individual medley record for the second time in a matter of hours. Her semi-final time of 2:10.08 moved her into Monday's final in fifth position.
"It's a pretty good back-to-back for semis and I'm glad to get in the final," Pickrem said. "Now I'll try to get under that 2:10 mark tomorrow."
Canada's women's 4x100 freestyle team of Sandrine Mainville of Boucherville, Que., Michelle Williams of Toronto, Chantal Van Landeghem of Winnipeg, and Katerine Savard of Pont-Rouge, Que., set a national record of 3:36.44 in a fifth-place finish.
The men's 4x100 free relay of Santo Condorelli of Kenora, Ont., Yuri Kisil and Karl Krug of Calgary and Evan Van Moerkerke of Tillsonburg, Ont., came eighth in a time of 3:15.94.
"We're young and we've still got another whole year until [the 2016 Olympics in] Rio: That's the big quest or end of the journey," Condorelli said. "This is just a stepping stone and we're headed in the right direction."
Condorelli also set an individual Canadian record Sunday, going 23.30 in the men's 50 butterfly. Unfortunately that left the 20-year-old in ninth, 0.01 behind Brazilian Cesar Cielo for the eighth spot in Monday's final.
Cochrane will be back in the pool Tuesday for the heats in the 800 freestyle, with finals set for Wednesday. He's also entered in his signature 1,500 freestyle.
"I think I can expect best times in all my races," Cochrane said, "and if I can get there, the 800 and 1,500 are very competitive these days and it's going to take best times to get on the podium."