Ryan Cochrane eager for 1st Olympic swimming gold

Canadian swimmer Ryan Cochrane admits that in the past he might have been searching for a level of perfection that wasn't there.

He won bronze at the 2008 Beijing Games and added silver four years later in London. Cochrane is using a new approach this season as he tries to finally get to the top step of the Olympic podium.

"It's almost a Zen-like attitude," he said. "It's not about blood in the water and having to attack these things. It's just trusting in yourself that you've done the work and I know I have."

Cochrane has reached the podium eight times (four silver, four bronze) at the world championships -- a Canadian record. He has won gold at the Commonwealth Games, Pan Pacific Games and the Pan Am Games but world and Olympic titles have remained elusive.

'I've surprised myself'

"In 2012, I felt like I was talking myself into being able to win," Cochrane said. "In the back of my mind, I was just a little too far off of probably being able to do that. This time around, I've surprised myself that at 27 years old I'm still getting best times in practice.

"Ten years on, to still be progressing, I think is a best-case scenario obviously. It really I think can only mean good things for Rio."

First up are this week's Canadian Olympic and Para-Swimming Trials at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre. Cochrane won gold here last summer in the 1,500-metre freestyle and the 400 free.

"We know that this is a necessary step to make the team," he said. "We have a chance to put up times that are hopefully the best in the world now and then go back to work for a couple months."

Likely his last Olympics

This will likely be the last Olympics for the Victoria swimmer. He made his international debut with the senior team a decade ago.

"I know how badly he wants that Olympic gold," said friend and teammate Hilary Caldwell. "But he's been in the top two or three in the world for eight or nine years now. That's pretty incredible."

The six-foot-three Cochrane appeared loose and relaxed after a one-hour training session Monday morning.

"My self-belief has kind of wavered in previous years because I got second so many times that you start to create a little bit of self doubt - 'Is first place possible?,"' he said. "But I think this year I've just been excited to live in the moment and appreciate this opportunity to go to another Olympic Games."