Australian swimmer Cameron McEvoy broke the world record in the 50m freestyle at the China Open Swimming Championships in Shenzhen.
McEvoy is the reigning 2024 Paris Olympics and 2025 World Championships champion in the 50m freestyle. The Australian's fastest time in the event was 21.06 seconds, which he set at the 2023 World Championships.
In the final of the championship in China, the Australian showed a time of 20.88 seconds, improving the previous world record of Brazilian Cesar Cielo by 0.03 seconds. McEvoy won by more than half a second in the heats over American Jack Alexi, who took silver with a time of 21.57 seconds. The podium was completed by Australian Kyle Chalmers.
China Open. Freestyle. 50 m
- Cameron McEvoy (Australia) — 20.88 seconds
- Jack Alexi (USA) — 21.57
- Kyle Chalmers (Australia) — 22.01
McEvoy broke Cielo's 17-year-old world record, which he set with a time of 20.91 seconds in December 2009 in a “supersuit.” That year, swimmers began using suits made from plastic derivatives, such as polyurethane. Competing in such suits allowed swimmers to improve their times, and they were later called “technological doping”. . They were later banned from swimmers because of the advantage they provided in reducing drag—over 100 world records were broken that year in them.
“I knew I had a chance to set a personal best. My previous one was 21.06 seconds, so maybe 20.99 seconds? But 20.88 seconds is incredible. It's crazy,” McEvoy was quoted as saying by the Sydney Morning Herald.
“I'm excited. It's been a goal of mine for a long time. I had a crazy training season last year after the world championships. I did some pretty special things before training. I knew I had a chance to maybe set a personal best or run 20.99. I couldn't have asked for anything better,” the Australian added.
Cameron McAvoy: what is known about the swimmer?
- A 31-year-old swimmer from Australia who specializes in short and middle distance freestyle swimming.
- McEvoy has four Olympic medals – gold in Paris and three bronzes in the 4x100m relay (one in Tokyo, two in Rio).
- He has 10 world championship medals to his credit, including two golds in the 50m freestyle in 2023 and 2025. He is a three-time Commonwealth Games champion and has four more “silver” and one “bronze” medals at the tournament.