Record Race for Ryan Cochrane in Mission Viejo

By Julia Wilkinson-Minks

MISSION VIEJO, California, June 6. A meet record and Olympians atop the podium: that's what was in store this evening at the first session of the TYR Fran Crippen Swim Meet of Champions in Mission Viejo, California.

​The racing began with the women's 800-meter freestyle: 2012 Olympian Chloe Sutton won the race in 8:28.19. Sutton came home in the fastest final 50 of the field, further estjablishing the benefits of versatility across the freestyle distances. Behind Sutton was Ashley Steenvoorden in 8:32.93.

1 Sutton, Chloe E 21 Mission Viejo-CA
29.37 1:00.37 (31.00)
1:32.30 (31.93) 2:03.91 (31.61)
2:35.61 (31.70) 3:07.66 (32.05)
3:39.55 (31.89) 4:11.66 (32.11)
4:43.80 (32.14) 5:15.92 (32.12)
5:47.91 (31.99) 6:20.35 (32.44)
6:52.49 (32.14) 7:25.43 (32.94)
7:57.40 (31.97) 8:28.19 (30.79)

Absent from the women's race was Canada's Savannah King, who was seeded second in the psych sheets. King entered the race after she was forced to scratch the 1500-meter freestyle due to illness at the Mel Zajac swim meet in Vancouver a few weeks ago. However, after bouncing back and having a strong 800-meter freestyle that same weekend, she and her coach decided to opt out of the meet here in Mission Viejo and focus on training instead.

​On the men's side, two-time Olympic medalist in the 1500-meter freestyle Ryan Cochrane took the gold medal in 15:03.14. Cochrane also bested the pool and meet record of 15:05.03 set by Larson Jensen in 2004. When asked about his race, Cochrane said: “It's difficult to know what to expect for a 1500 within season, but I'm happy with my results and will continuing to work on new skills for this season. I'm also quite excited to see how things go while racing this summer.” Cochrane has done a lot of work on his stroke rate and turns this season, and is using these meets to translate these tweaks to his races.

​Cochrane won by a significant margin over 17-year old Australian Mack Horton, who finished in 15:16.64. Although he is listed in the psych sheets, Cochrane will not be swimming the 800-meter freestyle on Sunday.

1 Cochrane, Ryan 24 Island Swimming
27.74 57.47 (29.73)
1:27.73 (30.26) 1:57.72 (29.99)
2:27.68 (29.96) 2:57.75 (30.07)
3:27.72 (29.97) 3:57.52 (29.80)
4:27.55 (30.03) 4:57.62 (30.07)
5:27.89 (30.27) 5:58.36 (30.47)
6:28.68 (30.32) 6:59.02 (30.34)
7:29.56 (30.54) 7:59.65 (30.09)
8:30.10 (30.45) 9:00.47 (30.37)
9:30.74 (30.27) 10:01.26 (30.52)
10:31.54 (30.28) 11:01.94 (30.40)
11:32.52 (30.58) 12:02.88 (30.36)
12:33.52 (30.64) 13:04.46 (30.94)
13:34.86 (30.40) 14:04.96 (30.10)
14:34.92 (29.96) 15:03.14 (28.22)

​Only one session in, and we are one for two on meet records at the TYR Fran Crippen Swim Meet of Champions, and there are still plenty of Olympians still waiting in the stands for their opportunity to showcase their talents.

Julia Wilkinson-Minks is a two-time Olympian for Canada and was a finalist in the 200-meter IM at the 2008 Beijing Games. In 2010, she became Texas A&M's first ever NCAA champion in swimming when she won the 100-yard freestyle. She graduated from Texas A&M with a degree in Speech Communication. Julia retired from competitive swimming following the London Olympic Games and now lives in Texas with her husband Shane.

Follow her on twitter @juliah2o

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