KAZAN, Russia — Victoria’s Ryan Cochrane won bronze in the 1,500-metre freestyle at the world swimming championships on Sunday night in a race that went off without two-time defending champion Sun Yang of China.
Vancouver’s Emily Overholt added to Canada’s medal haul with a bronze in the women’s 400 individual medley.
Gregorio Paltrinieri of Italy won gold in the 1,500, taking the lead from Cochrane at 500 metres and controlling the pace the rest of the way to touch in 14 minutes, 39.67 seconds.
Connor Jaeger of the United States finished second in 14:41.20. Cochrane, who won bronze in the 1,500 distance at the London 2012 Olympics, was under world-record pace through 400 metres but finished in 14:51.08.
Sunday’s result combined with Cochrane’s 400-m bronze from earlier in the meet, brings his all-time medal total to eight, the best in Canadian history.
It was the fourth straight medal in the event for the 26-year-old Cochrane.
"I’m really happy to get my fourth medal in a row," he said. "It’s obviously not the colour I wanted and it was a bit of an open field. … It’s great to get on the podium again, it’s not what I wanted, but it kind of incites some extra fire within for the Olympic year."
Sun didn’t appear for the introductions and there was no immediate explanation for the Olympic champion’s absence. Lane 3 remained empty instead of being filled by reserve Pal Joensen of the Faroe Islands.
FINA spokesman Pedro Adrega said Chinese team officials told him Sun felt a "chest sensation" during warmups.
"As there was not enough time to evaluate the situation or to check his medical condition, they decided to withdraw," he said.
Cochrane said he saw Sun in the warmup pool before the race.
"We all thought he would just show up late, so when he didn’t it was surprising," he said. "We would have liked the best field possible but it was still a pretty hard race."
Overholt placed third in the women’s 400 IM with a Canadian record time of 4:32.52. Katinka Hosszu of Hungary made a run at the world record before falling short on the last freestyle lap. She won in 4:30.39, after being 3.81 under world-record pace after five laps.
Maya DiRado of the United States finished second.
Overholt set a new personal best to qualify for the 400 IM final. Her swim of 4:35.86 dropped more than two seconds from her previous mark and was just 0.02 short of the Canadian record held by Tanya Hunks. The 17-year-old finished 4:35.33 at last month’s Pan Am Games in Toronto but the result was wiped out due to a disqualification.
"I knew I had to be at my best," said Overholt. "Making my first world final was a huge step. I didn’t have anything to lose and I’m really happy with how it went."
Hosszu, nicknamed "Iron Lady" for her relentless event schedule, also won the 200 IM in world-record time.
Japan’s Daiya Seto cruised to a 1.40-second victory for his second consecutive title in the 400 individual medley on the final night of swimming.
Seto led all the way and touched in 4:08.50 — 0.19 faster than he swam two years ago in Barcelona. Olympic champion Ryan Lochte didn’t qualify in the event at the worlds, although he won the 200 IM earlier in Kazan.
David Verraszto of Hungary finished second in 4:09.90. American Chase Kalisz, second in Barcelona, was third in 4:10.05.
Bronte Campbell of Australia won the 50 freestyle to go with her title in the 100 free. She touched in 24.12.
Olympic champion Ranomi Kromowidjojo of the Netherlands was 0.10 behind in giving up the title she won in Barcelona. Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden took third in 24.31.
The Australians swept the women’s sprint titles, along with the men’s and women’s 100-200 backstrokes.
Jennie Johansson earned a surprising win against a talented field in the 50 breaststroke, a non-Olympic event. The Swede won in 30.05.
Alia Atkinson of Jamaica took silver for her country’s second-ever medal at the worlds. Yuliya Efimova of Russia finished third, drawing the loudest cheers at Kazan Arena.
Camille Lacourt of France won the 50 backstroke, another event not part of the Olympic program. He finished in 24.23. American Matt Grevers was second and Ben Treffers of Australia third.