The Canadian women's water polo team kept Hungary treading water throughout their quarter-final match Tuesday at the world aquatic championships in Melbourne, Australia, but in the end the world champions prevailed.
Hungary topped Canada 11-9 in a thrilling contest, which saw Canada pull even three times during the game.
"We were there the whole time and at one point leading the game," Canadian coach and manager Ahmed El-Awadi told a conference call with Canadian reporters.
"A win was absolutely possible," he added. "We knew we had the potential to beat this team. … I know Hungary was sweating most of the game."
Canada captured bronze at the world aquatics championships two years ago in Montreal, but the team has made major changes since then with nine players retiring.
To fill the gap, this year's team features many players from Canada's junior team that captured world gold in 2003.
"We have a lot of younger athletes stepping up into core and key positions," said El-Awadi. "The team has progressed and matured very quickly, a lot faster than we were forecasting, which is great for us.
"Today, we as a team showed we are at this level."
In swimming action, Victoria's Ryan Cochrane broke the Canadian record in the men's 800 freestyle. The 18-year-old also beat world record-holder Grant Hackett of Australia in his heat to qualify fourth for Wednesday's final.
Cochrane, in a time of seven minutes, 51.55 seconds, finished second in his heat behind Oussama Mellouli of Tunisia. The Canadian will get one of the coveted middle lanes for the final.
"His tactic was not to get in over his head too early in the race but to make sure he was within striking distance," said coach Randy Bennett.
The previous Canadian record of 7:55.88 was set by Toronto's Andrew Hurd at the 2006 Pan Pacific Championships.
Cochrane was the only Canadian swimmer to advance on Tuesday. Toronto's Julia Wilkinson and Montreal's Genevieve Saumur were 23rd and 37th in the 200 freestyle, and Calgary's Mike Brown placed 34th in the men's 50 breaststroke.