Despite having already earned two individual titles at the 2016 Australian Short Course Championships in Brisbane this week, Bond sprinter Cameron McEvoy has opted out of competing at this year’s FINA Short Course World Championships. Per Swimming Australia, today McEvoy ‘announced his unavailability’ for the meet taking place in Windsor over December 6th-11th.
While competing this week, McEvoy cracked off a new All Comers Record in the men’s 100m freestyle, clocking a mark of 46.19. Although that fell short of his personal best of 46.31 from 2015, the mark would have made the final at the 2014 edition of the Short Course World Championships. In that final of 2014, McEvoy wound up 5th in a mark of 46.66, where Brazilian Cesar Cielo took gold in 45.75.
Also in Doha in 2014, McEvoy found himself out of the final in the 200m freestyle race, finishing 13th overall in a time of 1:43.37. Compare that to this week in Brisbane where the 22-year-old threw down a 1:42.75 to take the gold. That result also would have made the men’s 200m freestyle final in Doha, where South African Chad Le Clos took the world title in 1:41.75.
With McEvoy now absent from Windsor, the Aussies will look to the likes of veteran ace Daniel Smith and young gun (as well as 2016 Olympic Champion) Kyle Chalmers to pick up the freestyle events. We’ll see how Chalmers fares in the 50m freestyle race tomorrow in Brisbane, the final day of the nation’s Short Course Championships.
