The Canadian Press

MOSCOW — Brent Hayden of Vancouver swam to a Canadian record en route to a silver medal in the 100-metre freestyle on the second stop of the World Cup circuit Friday.

Hayden finished in 46.14, eclipsing his previous national mark of 46.27 he set in Toronto in March. Sergey Fesikov of Russia won the gold in 45.87 seconds, while Stefan Nystrand of Sweden took the bronze in 46.16.

"It's a really good start to the winter season for Brent," said Tom Johnson, head coach of the Vancouver national training centre. "He's a guy that responds well to high level competition. He wasn't feeling well earlier this week but he's been looking better and better since we got here."

Johnson said he was pleased to see his Hayden keeping pace with the leaders from the start of the race. The Canadian was third at the halfway point less than 0.3 seconds behind Nystrand, the leader.

"I really liked the first half of his race," Johnson said. "It's something we've been working for awhile. While he is known for his strong finishes, it's important that he doesn't get himself in too much of a hole against the big men in this event."

Hayden is the only Canadian at this event but will be joined by 11 Canadian teammates for World Cup stops in Stockholm and Berlin next week.

This is Hayden's first competition since the British Grand Prix last August where he helped Canada to world short-course records in the 4x200 freestyle and 4x100 medley relay.