Australian sprint sensation Cam McEvoy has capped a remarkable resurgence by breaking the men’s 50m freestyle world record.
The Olympic and reigning world champion blew the field away at the China Swimming Open in Shenzhen, touching the wall in 20.88 seconds — 0.03 seconds inside Brazilian César Cielo’s mark set in 2009.
What is significant about the record is that Cielo’s record was set in the now-banned polyurethane “supersuits”, making McEvoy’s time the fastest ever in textile. Cielo’s mark was regarded as one of the most untouchable world records in swimming.
McEvoy’s previous personal best was 21.06, swum at the 2023 world championships in Fukuoka, where he claimed gold.
“20.88 is unreal. It’s crazy,” McEvoy said.
“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 is now the only Australian male swimmer to hold an individual long-course world record. Ariarne Titmus (200m freestyle) and Kaylee McKeown (50m and 200m backstroke) are the only Australian women with individual marks.
After the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, McEvoy effectively stepped away from the sport before returning with a radically overhauled training program under coach Tim Lane.
Armed with a background in mathematics and physics, McEvoy shifted his approach to prioritise specificity, focusing on fewer laps in the pool and more emphasis on strength and power.
The results have been emphatic: world titles in 2023 and 2025, and Olympic gold in Paris, where he held off Great Britain’s Ben Proud and France’s Florent Manaudou in a time of 21.25.
Kyle Chalmers labelled the world record “insane” on social media, while fellow Olympic champion Mollie O’Callaghan posted: “So proud of you. Huge congratulations!”
Cielo was quick to congratulate McEvoy on X.
“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!”
More to come
Tom Decent is the chief sports writer for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.
