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Olympic champion swimmer Cameron McEvoy sees no reason why he will not remain in gold medal contention for Brisbane 2032 – by which time he will be 38.
The Gold Coast sprint sensation captured national headlines in the Paris Games in 2024 when he triumphed in the 50-metre freestyle before defending his crown at the 2025 World Championships in Singapore.
Having adopted a less-is-more training approach by focusing on low-volume but high intensity sessions and more gym work, the Queenslander vowed to break the 21-second long course barrier in the coming years, having achieved a personal best of 21.06.
Australian Cam McEvoy celebrates after winning gold in the 50m freestyle at the Paris Olympics.Credit: Eddie Jim
McEvoy believed the growing popularity of 25-metre sprints, which will feature in Australia vs the World in Brisbane from December 12, could take sprint swimming around the globe.
“There’s definitely room to move. I spent a lot of time thinking about the times I’ve done, how I executed them and there’s definitely low-hanging fruit I can improve upon,” McEvoy said.
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“I’ve been knocking on that 21.0 door for quite some time, so I would love to duck under it at some point if things permit me to.
“Then also, with the development of the 25s, the world is trending towards shorter events.
“The more that is done, the more seriously the world will take it and seeing that time drop over the next couple of years will be really exciting, not only for the sake of sprinting, but the downstream consequence for the improvement of the 50 metres at the Olympics as well.”
McEvoy pointed to Brazilian butterfly sprinter Nicholas Santos, who at 42 years old won 50-metre gold at the 2022 Short Course World Championships in Melbourne, as evidence enough he could still be a heavy medal contender come Brisbane 2032.
But he expressed his hope the growth of 25-metre sprints, which do not feature in the Olympics or have recognised world records, would take the shorter events into the future.
“But regardless of if it’s approved or not as a world record, the ball has definitely started rolling for interest in this,” McEvoy said.
“It’s not a push for adding 25 to the Olympics or anything like that, but just to have a world ranking and a step forward to take it somewhat seriously within our sport I think will be massive for sprinting in general.”
Griffith University swimming high-performance assistant coach David Thomas felt the way McEvoy had reinvented the wheel would encourage more athletes to consider alternative training methods.
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But he stressed while swimmers could soon push beyond typical retirement ages, it would come down to the individual’s situation. Those factors included mental wellbeing, life balance, financial situation and motivation to continue performing at the highest level.
“I listened to an interview with him where I would say he’s found a little point in his life with his partner and new child where everything is in sync,” Thomas said.
“It feels like he’s heavily involved in the planning and design of his training, so he’s having purposeful input into what he does, not just on a day-to-day basis but actually over the course of three, six, 12 months.
“In a sport that is traditionally a bit like school in that you do what you’re told, that’s a fantastic coach-athlete relationship.
“I think he’s found ways of training where he is getting the most out of the areas he feels are the most heavily weighted towards the areas that are relevant to him.
“He’s identified the strength component, the ability component … it’s like he’s working very targeted in those areas.”
McEvoy, who holds degrees in physics and mathematics, was bracing to be hunted come Australia vs the World, and said that served as motivation to improve.
“I’d be a fool not to think there are youngsters coming up who are going to be developing themselves, and they’re going to be right there on the starting line in LA and Brisbane,” McEvoy said.
“Even well-established guys who are right now redefining the way they approach their own sport, to think they won’t come back as strong as ever is not the best place to be.”
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