Canada’s Ryan Cochrane qualifies third, advances to men’s 1,500 freestyle final

LONDON – Victoria’s Ryan Cochrane is into the final of the men’s 1,500 freestyle at the Olympic Games.

Cochrane easily won his heat and qualified third overall for Saturday’s eight-man final.

China’s Sun Yang was the fastest in preliminaries, followed by Oussama Mellouli from Tunisia.

Cochrane won a bronze medal in the distance at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. He’s also been a silver medallist at the last two world championships.

Canada’smen’s medley relay team grabbed the last berth in Friday’s final.

Montreal’s Victoria Poon advanced to the women’s 50-metre freestyle semifinal.