Ryan Cochrane swims to Canadian record at trials
Last Updated: Wednesday, April 2, 2008 | 9:38 AM ET
The Canadian Press
Swimming Canada officials wanted the swimmers going to the Summer Olympics in Beijing to leave it all in the pool and race to the very finish to earn their spots.
They got their wish.
Ryan Cochrane churns to a Canadian record in Tuesday's 400-metre freestyle.
(David Boily/Canadian Press)
Ryan Cochrane of Victoria took the edict to heart, setting a Canadian record in the men's 400-metre freestyle at the CN Swimming Trials Olympic selection meet in Montreal on Tuesday.
Cochrane, 19, of Victoria, set the new Canadian mark of three minutes, 47:92 seconds, shattering the old mark of 3:49:96.
Cochrane was one of the first eight Canadian swimmers to qualify on the first night of the finals, running until Sunday.
It's Cochrane's third Canadian record. He also holds the 1,500 freestyle and the 800 freestyle marks.
Not bad for Cochrane, who said his twin brother Devon was the better athlete growing up.
"I'm ecstatic, it's what I wanted to do," Cochrane said. "I takes the pressure off for the week and hopefully my 1,500 and 800 will also be best times."
Cochrane said he hopes to bring his 400 freestyle swim below 3:45 in time for the Summer Olympics.
"It's hard to say what the worlds is going to be at that point, but it'll give me a good chance to get to the finals."
In the men's 400 individual medley, Keith Beavers and Brian Johns both qualified for the Olympics by coming in under the FINA A standard, 4:16:98 and 4:17:81 respectively.
Swimming Canada is using a new format to choose the team this year. The first person to the wall automatically qualifies for the Olympics should their time fall under the FINA B standard. The second place finisher can also qualify, providing their time falls under the FINA A standard.
Tougher standards last time around meant a smaller team in Athens. Beavers, who was part of the team that disappointed in 2004, says he loves the new selection criteria.
"If we want to become more competitive as a country we need to be able to send as many people as we can to the Olympics," Beavers said.
"If you come second you can still go, you can still make that time."
In a hotly contested men's 100 breaststroke, Mathieu Bois, 19, of Montreal and Mike Brown, 23, of Calgary both qualified in a fight to the finish between four swimmers.
"When I touched the wall and saw the guys behind me, I knew I had it because I knew I could come back faster," said Bois, who clocked in at 1:01:53.
Bois said he was feeding off a raucous crowd cheering him on in Montreal.
"There was a lot of energy [from the crowd], it helps. I knew a lot of people [in the stands]," Bois said.
For Brown, who came in at 1:01:56, the focus turns to the 200 breaststroke this week, his main event. But he's also eyeing a medal in Beijing.
"I'd love a medal, sometimes it's more realistic for other athletes but I really think I have shot," Brown said.
Vancouver's Scott Dickens, 23, failed to qualify in the 100-metre breaststroke despite beating the FINA A standard in the morning preliminaries.
In the women's 400 individual medley, Vancouver's Tanya Hunks, 27, qualified for her first Olympics along with 18-year-old Alexa Komarnycky of Toronto, who finished first at 4:42:82.
"A few years ago when I started winning national titles, I started building up the courage to do it, and I did it," Komarnycky said.
For a nervous Hunks who was hungry for a spot, there was relief after finishing second behind Komarnycky.
"This was going to be it for me, I wasn't going to put in another four years," Hunks said following the race.
"This is just awesome for me. I've wanted to do this since I was a little girl."
A couple of Montreal-area swimmers, spurred on by the hometown crowd, snagged spots on the Olympic team.
In the women's 100 butterfly, Audrey Lacroix, 24, of Montreal qualified, coming in at 59.47.
But the Canadian record holder in the event, Mackenzie Downing, 21, of the University of Victoria, missed the cut by six-one-hundredth of a second.
"Sure, it's a monkey off my back. …sure it's a relief but the main event has not happened yet and I want to swim really fast and not only make the team but to show the other girls in the world that I'm going to be ready to race them," Lacroix said.
