TORONTO – Two-time Olympic medallist Ryan Cochrane will be aiming for gold in the men’s 400-m freestyle tonight at the Pan American Games in Toronto.

Cochrane, who helped the men’s 4×200-m freestyle relay to bronze earlier this week, turned in a heat time of 3:50.58 in his first individual swim of the meet to earn top seed. Fellow Victorian Jeremy Bagshaw also moved through to tonight’s final, his 3:52.13 good for fifth.

Canada also looked strong in the women’s 100-m breaststroke, with Rachel Nicol delivering a personal best of 1:07.10 for second seed. Tera Van Beilen of the Swimming Canada High Performance Centre – Vancouver was fourth in 1:08.11

Two Canadian women also advanced to the final of the 100-m backstroke. Dominique Bouchard of North Bay, Ont., advanced with the second-fastest heat time of 1:00.44. Hilary Caldwell, who trains with Cochrane at the High Performance Centre – Victoria moved on in fifth at 1:00.97. Caldwell won gold, Bouchard silver in the 200-m backstroke earlier in the meet.

On the men’s side, Calgary’s Russell Wood was the top Canadian in the 100 back at 54.55, good for fourth position, while national team rookie Markus Thormeyer of Delta, B.C., grabbed an outside lane with the eighth-fastest time at 55.26.

In men’s 100-m breaststroke, Richard Funk of Edmonton moved on in fourth position at 1:00.80. Vancouver’s James Dergousoff (12th, 1:03.28) will swim in the B final

The morning session wrapped up with 50-m freestyle. Winnipeg’s Chantal Van Landeghem, already with two gold medals to her credit, advanced in fifth at 24.99. Meanwhile, Michelle Williams, who trains with Van Landeghem at the High Performance Centre – Ontario, tied for sixth at 25.07. On the men’s side, national team rookie Alex Loginov earned a spot in the final, grabbing seventh seed with a time of 22.37.

Earlier in the morning, Emily Overholt of the High Performance Centre – Vancouver bounced back from a tough night to earn a spot in the 400-m freestyle final. Her heat time of 4:18.21 was eighth-fastest and came just hours after she missed out on a gold medal in the 400-m individual medley due to a disqualification Thursday night.

Tabitha Baumann will swim in the B final after qualifying 10th at 4:18.70