Ryan Cochrane captures silver in 800-metre freestyle at worlds

University of Victoria Vikes swimmer and Victoria native Ryan Cochrane captured the silver medal in the men's 800-metre freestyle race at the 2011 FINA aquatic championships in Shanghai, China, on Wednesday July 27.

He improved his showing in this non-Olympic event after a bronze-medal showing in the same event two years ago. He finished with a  time of 7:41.86, just seconds behind Yang Sun of China who won gold with a time of 7:38.57.

Cochrane, the 2011 Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) male swimmer and male rookie of the year, will now turn his focus to the 1,500-metre race on the weekend, an event he earned a bronze medal in during the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.

FULL RESULTS FROM 2011 FINA AQUATIC CHAMPIONSHIPS  

Just one year away from the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England, the 22-year-old Cochrane and other high-ranking current and former Vikes have their sites set on qualifying for the Games and representing Canada. Cochrane's second-place performance gave Canada its fourth medal of the games and second silver (Canada also has two bronze medals). It comes on the heels of his fifth-place performance in the men's 400-metre freestyle race on the weekend.

MEDIA 

CBC / GLOBE AND MAIL / CTV / TIMES COLONIST

Source: University of Victoria Sports Information