Canadian relay women fall short of medal on final night of swimming
Medley relay, Ryan Cochrane fail to make podium
By Callum Ng, CBC Sports
The magic ran out for the Canadian women's swim team on Saturday, as the 4x100-metre medley relay failed to win a medal, finishing fifth by half a second.
It also stopped Toronto teenage sensation Penny Oleksiak from winning her fifth Olympic medal.
The Canadians of Kylie Masse (backstroke), Rachel Nicol (breaststroke), Oleksiak (butterfly), and Chantal Van Landeghem (freestyle) finished with a time of 3:55.49 seconds, a new national record.
"It (has) been a pretty great week. I would have loved to finish the meet off standing on the podium with these girls. I honestly think we raced our hardest and that's all we can ask to do," said Oleksiak.
The Americans were the emphatic champions by almost two seconds, completing the 400-metre race in 3:53.13. The silver went to Australia which swam to a time of 3:55.00, edging third-placed Denmark by 1-100th of a second.
The expectations were high for this Canadian relay team, the final representation for a group of women who have done the unthinkable in Rio over eight nights at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium.
As they marched out to their starting block the group looked poised, setting up behind Lane 5 as the second seed for the final.
A strong start from Kylie Masse, of Windsor, Ont., had the team in second after the first leg, before the field overwhelmed the Canadians. They would finish fifth after every remaining leg.
Cochrane streak broken
It was also a disappointing night for Victoria's Ryan Cochrane who finished sixth in the men's 1,500-metre freestyle.
The 27-year-old was swimming for a third straight Olympic medal to go with a silver he won in London, and bronze from Beijing.
- WATCH: Ryan Cochrane reflects on his swimming career
- WATCH: Italy takes two medals in men's 1500m freestyle, Canadian Cochrane places 6th
"It's devastating and I think very frustrating," said Cochrane. "All year long I think my coach Ryan (Mallette) and I had said everyday, 'Can we say this is the best training of your life?' and I absolutely could say that at least 90 per cent of the time and I think to not have that translate into Games is...it's hard to find the words."
From Lane 1 Cochrane fell out of the race early, and was eventually won by Italy's Gregorio Paltrinieri.
Cochrane's time of 14:49.61 was almost 10-seconds slower than his personal best set at the London Olympics.
Astonishing swimming
Despite being shutout on the final night of swimming, the Canadian team put together a remarkable effort at these Games.
The team's six medals, four won by the 16-year-old Oleksiak, obliterated expectations. All six were won by women.
Oleksiak, who won gold, silver and a pair of bronze, won the most medals of any Canadian summer athlete at one Olympics.