Swimming world championships: Canada earns bronze in mixed relay

Canada claimed a bronze medal in the inaugural mixed 4x100-metre freestyle relay at the swimming world championships in Kazan, Russia. 

Chantal Van Landeghem, Santo Condorelli, Sandrine Mainville and Yuri Kisil came in just behind the Netherlands and a dominant American team in a time of three minutes 23.59 seconds.   

"I lost my voice screaming," said Van Landeghem. "It was really cool and it was very special to share it with those three. They're really great people and we're all super proud to represent the leaf tonight."

It was the relay's debut at the world championships and the Americans easily set the standard. With a team that included two of the world's top swimmers in Ryan Lochte and Missy Franklin, the powerhouse squad set the world record pace at 3:23.05. 

Winnipeg's Van Landeghem qualified for Sunday's women's 50m freestyle final earlier in the day. The 21-year-old had a breakout performance at last month's Pan Am Games, where she beat America's Natalie Coughlin to claim gold in the 100m. 

She claimed the eighth and final spot in the final, breaking her Canadian record time in 24.52, which was 0.30 of second behind the top qualifier. 

"I wanted to try to redeem myself tonight and get into my first individual final," said Van Landeghem. "I can't wait, it should be really fun."

Cochrane sets sights on medal

Earlier in the day, Ryan Cochrane qualified for the men's 1,500-metre freestyle final. 

The 26-year-old Victoria native swam to a time of 14 minutes 55.96 in Saturday's heats to put him through to Sunday's final in the sixth position. 

Cochrane's time was more than 10 seconds faster than his gold medal winning pace at the Pan Am Games in Toronto last month. He currently boasts an impressive medal streak in the event, with three-straight silver finishes.

Earlier in the week, Cochrane captured bronze in the 400m final to increase his all-time world championship medal total to seven. He'll look to rebound from a disappointing outing in the 800m, where he missed the final with a 10th-place finish. 

"I was extremely disappointed in myself after the 800. Missing the 800 was not ideal, I thought it was going to be my best event. But it's not often you get another chance to show what you've been training all year for. As a senior athlete, I let myself feel bad for myself for one day, then it's on to the next thing. That's what it's all about," said Cochrane.

"I got a little extra rest and hopefully that will help me for the final."

Canada's Dominique Bouchard and Hilary Caldwell finished sixth and seventh in the women's 200m backstroke.