Canadian mainstay stud, Ryan Cochrane, topped the men’s 400m freestyle field tonight in the Pan American Games finals session, rocking a 3:48.29 to grab gold. Cochrane registered a 3:50.58 in the morning prelims, but took things up a notch in the evening to set a new Games record. The previous meet record was set by USA’s Matt Paton back in 2011 and stood at 3:49.77.
Splits for Cochrane tonight: 54.92, 57.45, 58.03, 57.89 = 3:48.29
Cochrane’s fastest 400m freestyle time so far this year is the 3:47.50 he clocked at the Canadian Trials this past April and it is important to note tonight’s time was scored in an unshaven and un-rested state. The Canadian freestyle specialist will be leading his team at Worlds in Kazan, so his final race preparation will be taking place in a few weeks. Cochrane is no doubt on the hunt for gold in Russia, as 26-year old came home from 2013’s Worlds with two medals, a bronze in the 800m freestyle and silver in the 1500m contests.
Also swimming in tonight’s 400m freestyle race was Colombia’s Mateo de Angulo, who finished 6th overall, but registered a new Colombian national record. De Angulo’s time of 3:51.38 from tonight’s final surpassed his own mark of 3:53.20 set at the 2014 Central American and Caribbean Games.