Ryan Cochrane |
Ryan Cochrane |
To say Ryan Cochrane made a splash would be one of the understatements of Canadian sport.The Victoria native is the most decorated Canadian swimmer in history.
On his retirement in 2017, Ryan finished his career with a Canadian record of 22 career international medals in the 400m, 800m and 1,500m freestyle events. That includes two medals in the Olympics, eight at the FINA World Championships, six at the Pan Pacific Championships, four Golds in the Commonwealth Games and two Golds in the Pan American Games. From 2008 through 2015, he was named Canadian Male Swimmer of the Year a startling eight times in a row.
The graduate of Claremont Secondary and the University of Victoria did plenty in his career to warrant his standing as an all-time Canadian great in the pool. Canada’s best current and future swimmers owe a debt of gratitude to Ryan Cochrane. On that point, there is little doubt. The two-time Olympic medallist had the willingness to put in the long, hard kilometre-after-kilometre training sessions in Saanich Commonwealth Place. That allowed him to perform with precision at all the big world events.
Ryan was among Canada's most reliable athletes, in any sport, during his 12-year international career. No small part of that was due to his coach and mentor Randy Bennett, who preceded Ryan into the Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame in 2017. This coach-swimmer tandem was recognized by Swimming Canada in 2008/2009 with the Dr. JenoTihanyi Memorial Bursary, awarded to aid in their further development towards excellence.
Before the six-medal outbreak for Canada in the pool at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics, where he co-captained the team, it was Ryan Cochrane who almost singlehandedly kept Canadian swimming afloat through what were otherwise low years, representing Canada at three Olympic Games and six World Championships. His Bronze medal in the 1,500-metre freestyle was Canada's lone swimming medal at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics and our first 1500-metre medal in 88 years. Ryan’s 1500-metre Silver at the London 2012 Olympics was one of only two Canadian pool medals.
In 2017, Swimming Canada honoured Ryan’s achievements by inducting him into the Circle of Excellence, where he joined such swimming legends as Alex Baumann and Mark Tewksbury. “At a time when Swimming Canada was rebuilding, it was Ryan Cochrane who stepped up and led by example, winning medals at multiple World Championships and Olympics,” says Tewksbury, a Canadian sport leader and 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics swimming Gold medallist.“There was much excitement by the performance of the Canadian swimming team at Rio 2016. But that momentum started with Ryan's medals at Beijing 2008 and London 2012.”
Ryan Cochrane’s legacy in pools around the world – which all started at Saanich Commonwealth Place – will not soon be forgotten.
SPONSORED BY SWIMMING CANADA
Rick Say |
Rick Say |
Rick Say |
Rick Say |
It was just three short years from the day Rick began training seriously to the day he was standing on the blocks for the finals of the men’s 200 metre freestyle at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, about to go stroke-for-stroke with the established stars of the swimming world. That was, he says, a defining moment in his life.
Growing up in Salmon Arm, with a father who was President of the local swimming club and two older brothers swimming in the “Summer League” – training in May and June, competing on weekends in July and August – Rick naturally became involved himself and discovered he was very good at it. In fact, he was the first person to go under a minute in the Summer League in the 100 metre backstroke, a record that stood for the next 10 years.
Rick moved to Victoria in 1997 for the University of Victoria and its swimming program. It was the first time he had trained year-round, with sessions twice daily. He thought he was a pretty good swimmer but “I was annihilated in the first few workouts,” he laughs. Instead of discouraging him, it ignited the drive and determination of the first-class athlete. “I was able to adapt very quickly,” he says. “That’s always been my strength as an athlete.”
By the end of his first semester, he had switched strokes to freestyle and qualified for the National Championships. In his second semester, he qualified for the Canadian team at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Malaysia. Rick went on to win the most international medals in Canadian swimming history, capturing 27 medals across three Commonwealth Games, six World Championships, and three Olympic Games, becoming only the eighth Canadian swimmer ever to compete in three Olympics. He has also reached the podium in many other major competitions. Yet what he considers the highlight of his career was not a medal performance but his sixth place finish in the men’s 200 metre freestyle at the 2004 Olympics in Athens – one of the greatest and fastest races in Olympic swim history – against legendary swimmers Ian Thorpe and Grant Hackett (Australia), Pieter van den Hoogenband (Netherlands) and Michael Phelps (USA). “It was my biggest race and biggest accomplishment,” he says. “That will stick with me the rest of my life.”
Swimming out of Victoria except in 2001-2003 when he attended the University of Calgary, Rick set 24 national records, including one that may never be broken: being the only Canadian to win every freestyle event – 50m, 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m and 1500m – at a single national championship. He was a national team member from 1997 and Captain of the national team from 2002 until his retirement from swimming in 2009. He has given back to the sport through his coaching and was an executive member of the Canadian Olympic Committee’s Athletes’ Commission from 2008 to 2012, as well as acting as Athlete Mentor in the Athletes’ Village during the 2010 Winter Olympics.
SPONSORED BY UVIC VIKES
