Cameron McEvoy becomes fastest swimmer in history with new 50m record
Australian speed king Cameron McEvoy has broken the long-standing 50 metres freestyle world record at the China Swimming Open in Shenzhen.
Cameron McEvoy has stamped himself as the fastest swimmer of all-time, powering to an extraordinary world record of 20.88 seconds to annex the 50 metres freestyle landmark that’s stood for 17 years.
With his milestone performance over one length of the pool at the China Swimming Open in Shenzhen, Australia’s Olympic champion clipped three-hundredths of a second off the mark of 20.91 set by Brazilian Cesar Cielo back in the sport’s “supersuit” era in 2009.
“I knew I had a chance to do a PB (personal best). My old PB was 21.06, so maybe 20.99? But doing 20.88 is unreal. It’s crazy!” said the 31-year-old Gold Coast star.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.“The 50 metres, I look at it as a strength-based skill. It’s different to the other events in swimming. A lot more strength and power is involved, and men peak in strength into their 30s, well into their 30s.”
McEvoy, who was crowned world champion last year following his 2024 Olympic triumph, is the first Australian to hold the speed landmark since Eamon Sullivan lowered the record three times in 2008.
Cielo was quick to congratulate McEvoy on social media, tweeting: “Congrats, Cam. Lightning fast swim! Incredible!
“I saw a phrase a while ago that perfectly captures what you’ve been doing.
“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete. Congratulations!”
This was a reference to McEvoy’s famed new approach to swimming training, in which he spends more time in the gym rather than pounding up and down a pool.
Cielo’s record was set when high-tech swim suits were the norm. Since then they’ve been banned, and it took a special race, with McEvoy being pushed by Aussie teammate Kyle Chalmers, the former Olympic 100m free champion, and American Jack Alexy, the Olympic 4x100m freestyle relay gold medallist.
But McEvoy still powered clear by a body’s length as Alexy finished second in 21.57 and Chalmers took bronze in 22.01.
His flying achievement clearly astonished even McEvoy as he had only clocked 21.25sec when winning the Olympic crown in 2024 and was timed at 21.14sec when taking the world title in Singapore last year. He had gone into Friday’s race as only the fourth fastest in history.
With Reuters
