Ryan Cochrane (swimmer)

Ryan Cochrane
Personal information
Full name Ryan Andrew Cochrane
Nationality  Canada
Born October 29, 1988 (1988-10-29) (age 23)
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Height 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Sport
Sport Swimming
Stroke(s) Freestyle
Club Island Swimming

Ryan Andrew Cochrane (born October 29, 1988 in Victoria, British Columbia) is a Canadian long-distance swimmer. Cochrane is an Olympic bronze medalist as well as the reigning double gold medalist in both the Commonwealth Games and the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships. He holds multiple world championship medals. For the year of 2010, Cochrane was named the Canadian male swimmer of the year at the 2010 Big Splash Awards Gala in Toronto.[1]

Contents

Career

He competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics in the 400 m freestyle, where he finished ninth in the heats with a Canadian record time of 3:44.85 and failed to qualify for the final. Cochrane also competed in the 1500 m freestyle where he briefly held the Olympic record after swimming a time of 14:40.84 in the heats. This record was soon broken by previous record holder Grant Hackett, who swam a time of 14:38.92.[2] He qualified in second position for the final, and won the bronze medal on August 17.[3] It was the first Olympic medal for a Canadian swimmer since the 2000 Summer Olympics. It was the first medal for Canada in the 1500m freestyle in 88 years.[4]

At the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India Cochrane won Canada's first gold medal of those games in the 400 m freestyle during the first day of competition.[5] Cochrane also became the first Canadian man in 72 years to win gold in the 400 m freestyle at the Commonwealth Games.[5] He then went on to win another gold medal at those games, this time in the 1500 m freestyle.

Cochrane next competed at the 2011 World Aquatics Championships where he opened up with a fifth place finish in the 400 m. Next up was one of his medal hopeful events in the 800 m freestyle where he lowered his Canadian record to 7:41:86. However this was only good enough for second, as despite staying close to the hometown favourite of Shanghai, Sun Yang ultimately took the gold for China.[6] Of the silver medal Cochrane said that "The goal was to win but I'm happy to progress from the last two years. It shows that I'm in it. I have a little more work to do to catch Sun Yang but I'm not out of it by any means."[7]

He next competed in the 1,500 m in Shanghai where he again finished second behind Yang who swam to a world record time. Of a second finish behind Yang, Cochrane could only say that "He shows that he's had that much more base-work training and he can get to that world record, which is fantastic. I think it's great, especially for the distance events because everyone's been talking about this world record year after year and there's more pressure that's built up...He's showed amazing stroke and amazing ability."[8]

Personal bests and records held

Long course (50 m)
Event Time Date Meet Location Ref
200 m freestyle  1:48.55  02009 2009 World Championships Trials Montreal, Canada
400 m freestyle  3:44.85  NR
 02008 2008 Olympic Games Beijing, China
800 m freestyle  7:41:86  NR
 02011-07-27 27 July 2011 2011 World Aquatics Championships Shanghai, China [6]
1500 m freestyle  14:40.84  NR
 02008 2008 Olympic Games Beijing, China
Short course (25 m)
Event Time Date Meet Location Ref
200 m freestyle  1:47.60  02009 2009 Spring Nationals Canada
400 m freestyle  3:39.10  NR
 02009 2009 British Gran Prix Leeds, United Kingdom
800 m freestyle  7:39.57  02009 2009 Spring Nationals Canada
1500 m freestyle  14:28.63  NR
 02009 2009 British Grand Brix Leeds, United Kingdom

Legend: WR – World record; ER – European record; CR – Commonwealth record; NR – Canadian record;
Records not set in finals: (h) – heat; (sf) – semifinal; (r) – relay 1st leg; (rh) – relay heat 1st leg; (b) – B final; † – en route to final mark; (tt) – time trial

Personal

He has a twin brother Devon and a younger brother Liam Cochrane.

External links

References

  1. ^ "Swimming Canada bio". Swimming Canada. https://www.swimming.ca/SwimmerBioArticle.aspx?status=1&bioid=21. Retrieved 27 July 2011. 
  2. ^ The Canadian Press (2008-08-15). "Cochrane briefly holds Olympic record in 1,500 freestyle". TSN. http://www.tsn.ca/olympics/story/?id=246387&lid=sublink02&lpos=headlines_main. Retrieved 2008-08-15. 
  3. ^ CBC Sports (2008-08-16). "Canada's Cochrane swims to bronze". CBC Sports. Archived from the original on 2008-08-22. http://web.archive.org/web/20080822000934/http://www.cbc.ca/olympics/swimming/story/2008/08/16/olympics-men-day-nine.html. Retrieved 2008-08-16. 
  4. ^ NBC Television, Olympics Evening, 16 August 2008
  5. ^ a b "Cochrane Wins Swimming Gold for Canada". CBC Sports. 4 October 2010. http://www.cbc.ca/commonwealthgames/story/2010/10/04/spc-men-400-final.html. Retrieved 2010-10-04. 
  6. ^ a b "Canada's Cochrane swims to silver in 800m at worlds". CBC News. 27 July 2011. http://www.cbc.ca/sports/swimming/story/2011/07/27/sp-fina-worlds-swimming.html. 
  7. ^ "The Silver Streak". CTV Sports. 27 July 2011. http://www.ctvolympics.ca/news/newsid=1228507.html. 
  8. ^ "Cochrane nabs silver in Yang's world record swim". CBC News. July 31, 2011. http://www.cbc.ca/sports/swimming/story/2011/07/31/sp-fina-day8.html. 
  • 1930: 400 Yards Freestyle
  • 1934 – 1966: 440 Yards Freestyle
  • 1970 – 2010: 400 Metres Freestyle
  • 1930 – 1934: 1500 Yards Freestyle
  • 1938 – 1966: 1650 Yards Freestyle
  • 1970 – 2010: 1500 Metres Freestyle