Ryan Cochrane and the Canadians Continue to Chug Along

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By guest writer Julia Wilkinson-Minks (2008 & 2012 Canadian Olympian)

BARCELONA, Spain, July 31. EVEN though it was a nail-biter for Canada at the 700, and even the 750-meter mark, Ryan Cochrane managed to earn one of the two medals that were being fought over by three swimmers in the 800 freestyle. Although he could not catch Michael McBroom, Cochrane did get to the wall ahead of Connor Jaeger, earning a bronze medal and finally putting Canada on the board.

After the second finals session in Barcelona, people were commenting on what a disappointing night it had been for the United States: the fact that Dana Vollmer had taken third and there were no Americans on the podium in the women’s 200 IM was not what the fans wanted to see.

Although disappointment is a relative term, it is still bizarre to think that someone would be upset with a bronze medal at the World Championships, or that a swimmer placing fifth would dilute Katie Ledecky’s incredible 400 freestyle from the day before. Granted, when you compare bronze to gold, or fifth to the podium, it is disappointing: that is why it is all relative.

It is impossible to compare swimming in Canada to the United States, but clearly the expectations are different, because they have to be. If Canada, a country of 34 million (less than the state of California) all of a sudden started winning as many medals as the United States–or even putting as many swimmers in the finals for that matter–people would be on the horn to WADA pretty quickly.

But Canada is making progress, even if it is slow. Ryan Cochrane is carrying the flag for the team with his international consistency: ever since winning his first international medal, a bronze in Beijing, Cochrane has been on the podium every year. Last summer, he earned silver behind Sun Yang, making him an Olympic medalist in the 1500 freestyle in back-to-back Olympics.

But it is not just Ryan Cochrane who is an indicator of improvement in Canada: it is hard to see from the outside, because many veteran swimmers, including 2007 World Champion and 2012 Olympic bronze medalist Brent Hayden, retired following the London Games. Canada is still in a rebuilding cycle, and losing veterans before they have reestablished themselves will set them back from a medals and finals perspective.

But Canada is still moving in the right direction, the proof came on day one: not one, but two swimmers earned a spot in the final of the 100 butterfly. Katerine Savard finished 5th, and national team rookie Noemie Thomas earned 7th. Back in 2007, World Championships had very few events featuring two Canadians in the prelims, let alone the semis or the final.

In the women’s 4×100 freestyle relay, Canada earned the third seed in prelims, and dropped to fifth in the final. Not bad for a team that failed to make the final at the Olympics last summer, and has no wiggle-room to switch out swimmers between heats and finals. The 100 butterfly and the women’s relay were microcosms of the improvements Canada has been making.

“Fixing” Swim Canada is not just about putting more money in the pockets of the top-level athletes. It has to start at the club level, with the young swimmers. It has to start with facilities: Ontario, Canada’s largest province population-wise, produces many great athletes but loses them upon high school graduation because of the lack of pool time.

Although they have recruited great coaches to Toronto, there will not be a major shift until Canada’s largest city gets a bigger and better pool. Thank goodness this is finally happening, with Pan American Games coming to Toronto in 2015. The upcoming Pan American Games in Canada are more than just about swimmers getting to perform on home soil, it is about filling a need that has been on the top of Swim Canada’s list for years.

Although it took four days for Canada to win a medal at World Championships, this is no sign of what the media dubbed, rather insultingly, a “Poisoned Pool” back in 2004. Canada still has plenty of great swims ahead of them, including Martha McCabe in the 200 breaststroke, the event in which she earned a bronze medal in Shanghai; the women’s 4×200 freestyle relay, which returns three of four swimmers who placed fourth last summer at the Olympic Games; and of course, Ryan Cochrane in the 1500 freestyle. Plus, there are plenty of swimmers on the cusp of their break-out swims.

Canada needed that bronze out of Ryan Cochrane tonight, but maybe not as badly as they did in 2008. Slowly and steadily, Swim Canada is building back up. There are so many pieces to the puzzle when it comes to a successful national team, and right now they are still missing a few. But they have picked up a lot over the past 8 years, and have a lot on the horizon. 2015 is going to be the breakthrough Canada needs to help push them out of the “building” phase, setting the team up very well for Rio and beyond.

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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