New Delhi:
Ryan Cochrane on Monday grabbed gold in the men's 400m freestyle at the Commonwealth Games in a closely-fought race in New Delhi to become Canada's first ever Commonwealth champion at the distance.
The 21-year-old was favourite going into the eight-length event but was pushed all the way in his 3:48.48 win by Australia's Ryan Napoleon, who picked up silver, and defending champion Dave Carry from Scotland, in bronze.
The trio were neck and neck with Scotland's Robbie Renwick virtually all the way, with the lead changing hands at least four times going into the turns.
But Cochrane, who picked up a silver in the recent Pan Pacifics in August and is an Olympic 1,500m freestyle bronze medallist, stretched home quicker a fraction of a second ahead of Napoleon.
Renwick's challenge fell away after keeping with the leaders early on and he finished in sixth, behind Wales' David Davies and Mark Randall of South Africa.
Napoleon's silver comes after he was cleared to compete following suspension for a positive test for a banned asthma drug.
Cochrane is the first male Canadian swimmer to win at the event since 1938, when Robert Pirie clinched victory in the 440 yards race in Sydney.
But he said could yet improve.
"The 400 is a tough race and I am still learning it," he told reporters. "I just wanted to stay close and then go hard."
His victory would set a "positive tone" for the week in the pool, he said, adding: "At this time of the year it is just about racing."
Carry's bronze means he has now won four medals at the Commonwealth Games (two golds, one silver and one bronze). Only three other Scottish athletes have won at least four medals in swimming.
"There's a tinge of sadness thinking that I just gave the title away," he said.
"After Beijing [2008 Olympic Games] I knew I had a lot of work to do, so in a few years hopefully I'll be ready for London (2012 Olympic Games)."
Asked about the rest of the competition in the Indian capital, he added: "I'm really stirred up about that 200m (Freestyle) tomorrow, I really want to win that."