Cameron McEvoy (born 13 May 1994) is an Australian competitive swimmer who represented his country at the 2012, [6] 2016, 2020 and 2024 Summer Olympics. He is the reigning Olympic champion in the men's 50m freestyle, and is also the first Australian man to win an Olympic medal in the event. [7] [8]
At the 2011 World Junior Championships in Lima, Peru, McEvoy won gold medals in the 50 m and 100 m freestyle, and a bronze in the 200 m freestyle. [9]
McEvoy made his Olympic debut in 2012, swimming in the heats of the 4 × 100 m freestyle and 4 × 200 m freestyle relays in London. Australia went on to finish in fourth and fifth place, respectively. [10]
McEvoy competed at the 2013 World Championships in Barcelona. On 28 July, McEvoy competed in the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay, splitting 47.44 on the second leg. Australia finished 4th overall, 0.14 seconds behind the bronze medalists. [11] On 30 July, he swam in the 200 m freestyle final, recording a time of 1:46.63 to finish 7th. [12] Two days later, he finished 4th in the 100 m freestyle in a time of 47.88. [13] At the end of the competition, he swam the freestyle leg in the heats of the 4 × 100 m medley relay, splitting 47.85. [14] He was replaced by James Magnussen in the final and won a silver medal after Australia finished second overall. [15]
At the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, McEvoy's first event was the 200 m freestyle. There, he won the silver medal with a time of 1:45.56. Later that night, he competed in the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay. South Africa had an early lead, and was still ahead at the 300 m mark. McEvoy swam 47.92 on the anchor leg, winning gold in a games record time of 3:13.44. [16] On day 4 of competition, McEvoy competed in two events. The first of which was the 100 m freestyle, where he finished second with a 48.34 effort. Later that night, he swam in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay, with the team winning gold in a games record time of 7:07.38. [17] On the final day of competition, McEvoy again competed in two events. He won the silver medal in the 50 m freestyle with a time of 22.00. In the 4 × 100 m medley relay, he competed in the heats and was replaced by Magnussen in the final. McEvoy won another silver by virtue of the relay's second place finish overall. [18] [19]
McEvoy later competed at the 2014 Pan Pacific Championships on the Gold Coast. On the first day, he posted 1:46.36 to win the bronze medal in the 200 m freestyle. [20] The following day, he won the gold medal in the 100 m freestyle in a championship record time of 47.82. He closed out the second night with the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay, swimming the second leg and winning the bronze medal. [21] On day 3, he anchored the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay, winning the gold medal in a close race between Australia, USA and Brazil. [22] On the final day of competition, he won bronze in the 4 × 100 m medley relay and came fourth in the 50 m freestyle. [23]
At the 2015 World Championships in Kazan, McEvoy's first individual event was the 200 m freestyle, where he finished 8th with a 1:47.26 effort. [24] He later won the silver medal in the 100 m freestyle, with his time of 47.95 being 0.11 seconds slower than the gold medalist. [25] He won bronze in the men's 4 × 200 m freestyle relay relay, leading off in 1:46.46. [26] He concluded the championships with another silver in the 4 × 100 m medley relay, splitting 46.60 on the anchor leg. [27]
At the 2016 Australian Championships, McEvoy gained Olympic qualification in the 100 m freestyle with a time of 47.04. This was a new Australian record, surpassing Eamon Sullivan’s mark of 47.05 from 2008. [28] It was also the fastest time in a textile suit, remaining so until 2019. [29] He also qualified for the 50 m and 200 m freestyle events, recording a personal best time of 21.44 in the former. [30]
In the weeks leading up to the Olympics, McEvoy withdrew from the 200 m freestyle. [31]
In his first event at the 2016 Olympics, McEvoy swam in the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay. He anchored in 47.00 to the bronze medal. [32] McEvoy was left off 4 × 200 m freestyle relay, which allowed him to prioritise the 4 × 100 m freestyle final. [33] Despite going into the 100 m freestyle event as favourite, McEvoy was unable to replicate his trials form and finished 7th in a time of 48.12. The gold medal was won by compatriot Kyle Chalmers. [34] Later in the week, McEvoy went 21.89 in the 50 m freestyle semifinals, missing out on qualification for the final. [35] He participated in the heats of the 4 × 100 m medley relay and was replaced by Chalmers in the final. [36] The team went on to win the bronze medal. [37]
McEvoy competed at the 2017 World Championships in Budapest. His first event was the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay, where Australia initially finished fifth but was disqualified due to an early exchange. [38] McEvoy finished fourth in the 100 m freestyle in a time of 47.92. [39] McEvoy also competed in the 50 m freestyle, where he finished 9th in a time of 21.81. [40]
At the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, McEvoy set the games record in the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay heats, with a time of 3:12.72. He swam the first leg in the final, winning the gold medal in a time of 3:12.96. [41] Individually, he won bronze in the 50 m freestyle and came fourth in the 100 m freestyle. [42] [43]
McEvoy left longtime coach Richard Scarce in June, later withdrawing from the Australian Pan Pacific Championships Trials as he was yet to decide on a new training base. [42] In August, McEvoy joined Chris Nesbit’s program at TSS Aquatic. [44]
At the 2019 World Championships, McEvoy won bronze in the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay, splitting 48.44 on the first leg. [45] He also swam the heats of the mixed 4 × 100 m freestyle relay, winning silver after the finals team finished second. [46] [47] Individually, he placed 10th in the 50 m freestyle. [48]
At the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, McEvoy swam the heats of the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay and was replaced by Matthew Temple in the final. McEvoy won bronze after the team finished third overall. [49] [50] He later finished 29th in the 50 m freestyle and 24th in the 100 m freestyle. [51] [52]
After the Tokyo Olympics, McEvoy took a 12-month hiatus from the sport. [53]
During his break from swimming, McEvoy experimented with rock climbing. This exposed him to a degree of strength training that was not present in his previous training approach, as the swimming portion primarily consisted of aerobic exercise. This led to an overhaul of his training program and a decision to specialise in the 50 m freestyle. He reduced his training load from 30 kilometres of swimming per week, to 2 kilometres per week. He increased the intensity of his swimming sessions, which was enabled by a greater emphasis on strength training. McEvoy implemented these changes by moving to Tim Lane’s program in Brisbane. [53]
McEvoy returned to competition in October 2022, recording 22.82 in the 50 m freestyle. [54] At the Sydney Open in May 2023, McEvoy went 21.85 in the heats of the 50 m freestyle. This was the fastest time by an Australian since 2017. He improved on the mark in the final, going 21.84. [55]
At the 2023 Australian Trials in Melbourne, McEvoy qualified for the Fukuoka World Championships in the 50 m butterfly and 50 m freestyle. He went 23.08 in the 50 m butterfly heats, which was his first personal best in any event since 2016. He did another personal best in the final, recording 23.07. He also achieved a personal best in the 50 m freestyle heats, going 21.27 to rank him number 1 in the world for 2023. [55] [56]
Competing in Fukuoka, McEvoy did not advance to the semifinals of the 50 m butterfly, placing 18th. [57] In the 50 m freestyle, he won the gold medal in a time of 21.06. This was a new Australian record, breaking Ashley Callus’ mark of 21.19 from 2009. [58]
At the 2024 World Championships in Doha, McEvoy won the bronze medal in the 50 m butterfly in a time of 23.08. [59] He later won a silver medal in the 50 m freestyle, posting a time of 21.45 to finish 0.01 behind the gold medalist. [60]
At the 2024 Australian Trials, McEvoy swam 21.35 to qualify for the 50 m freestyle at the Paris Olympics. He became the first male swimmer to represent Australia at 4 different Olympic Games. [10]
He won the 50 m freestyle gold medal at the Paris Olympics in a time of 21.25, beating silver medalist Ben Proud by 0.05 seconds. This made him the first Australian man to win an Olympic medal in the event. [8]
At the 2025 World Championships in Singapore, McEvoy won his second world title in the 50 m freestyle. He posted a 21.14 effort to finish 0.12 ahead of Proud. [61]
McEvoy studied physics and mathematics at Griffith University. [62] At the 2016 Olympic trials he gained attention by wearing a swim cap with the signal of two merging black holes to celebrate the first observation of gravitational waves that had been announced two months earlier. [62] [63] [64] The year before he wore a cap showing a Feynman diagram of a positron and an electron annihilating. [64]
McEvoy is the grandson of Barney McEvoy who played rugby league for New South Wales in 1960 and who played club rugby league for the North Sydney and Manly Warringah clubs. [65] [66]
In May 2021, McEvoy offered his house for A$1.5 million or the equivalent in bitcoin. [67]
| Event | Time | Record | Meet |
| Long course | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 50 m freestyle | 21.06 | CR | 2023 World Aquatics Championships |
| 100 m freestyle | 47.04 [28] | CR | 2016 Australian Championships |
| 200 m freestyle | 1:45.46 | 2014 Australian Championships | |
| Short course | |||
| 50 m freestyle | 20.75 | 2015 Australian Short Course Championships | |
| 100 m freestyle | 46.19 | 2016 Australian Short Course Championships | |
| 200 m freestyle | 1:40.80 | 2015 Australian Short Course Championships | |
| 50 yards | |
|---|---|
| 50 metres | |
|
