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Veteran sprinter Cameron McEvoy spoke to the media on Wednesday from the Aussie training camp in Chartres, France, the final stage before the squad goes to Paris for the Olympic Games.
McEvoy is headed to his fourth Olympics as the favorite to claim gold in the men’s 50 freestyle, owning the top seed by nearly two-tenths of a second and coming off winning the 2023 World Championship title in dominant fashion.
The 30-year-old touched on a number of topics in his 13-minute availability, including how his training is going in the lead-up to the Games, the impact having defending champion Caeleb Dressel in the field means to the 50 free, the Australian rivalry with the United States, and the opportunity he has to compete at another Olympics after some “unique experiences.”
McEvoy noted that he’s “swimming as fast as I ever have” in training, detailing a specific taper program he’s using that he first tried prior to the 2023 World Championships, where he dropped a time of 21.06—the fastest since Dressel went 21.04 at the 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials.
McEvoy was able to stay back in Australia longer than the rest of the Olympic team in order to follow his specific taper program, for which he expressed immense gratitude to the team staff.
“The flexibility that Rohan (Taylor) and the swim team gave me to stay back in Australia for a little bit longer—for me, that two, two and a half, three-week period was the most important period of my entire prep,” McEvoy said.
“It’s kind of the glue that puts the rest of the 11 months prior to that together. And the results that I was able to put on the board in training in that period suggests that it was the perfect move.”
McEvoy said he arrived a week before the team went from Canet to Chartres, which was on July 13.
McEvoy repeatedly used the word “privilege” when discussing his opportunity to race at a fourth Olympics, giving him the chance to “rewrite my relationship with the Olympics.”
McEvoy has three Olympic bronze medals to his name, all from relays, but is perhaps best remembered at the Games for missing the men’s 100 free podium in Rio after he swam the fastest textile time in history (47.04) at the Olympic Trials.
“I didn’t think I would be on the team again at an Olympics, let alone with the chance to potentially get my hand on the wall first or to get a medal,” he said.
“It’s something that I can’t take for granted, but also something where I definitely need to take a step back and just appreciate the opportunity to relate to the Olympic experience on a new level, in a different context, and to walk away really proud of everything I’ve done.”
Watch his full media availability below:
Courtesy of Swimming Australia
To be honest I used to find Cam McEvoy a wee bit grating when he was younger with all the ‘I am S M R T’ stuff haha, but he seems to have mellowed out a bit over the years. Wishing him the very best at Paris, I do hope he can win, it’d be such an amazing story.
Wait, didn’t he get chased down hard at last year’s worlds for sec place. Methinks the diva needs to change his approach or he might not medal now that Dressel is back.
I was just thinking about how we hadn’t got an ignorant, uninformed and ridiculous opinion from Swimdad recently. Welcome back!
Did he not lose in Doha tapering the same way?
I wish you Aussie trolls will take a sec to think things through before senselessly attacking Swimdad.
Did you forget to change accounts? Or do you refer to yourself in the third person now?
You said McEvoy lost at last year’s worlds. He won gold in a time faster than Dressel won Tokyo.
Imagine calling mild mannered physics student Cam McEvoy a diva.
There is one thing in regards to Swimdad, he has the ability to take to another level.
And it’s based on McEvoy choosing not to fly out with the rest of the team so he could continue his very specific training style for a few weeks longer.
A diva would have demanded that the whole team delay flying out until McEvoy was ready. Cam did the opposite which impacted absolutely nobody besides himself.
I get that it’s Olympics time and trolling is peaking but at least make it funny. The stupidity around these parts recently has been very tiring.
Eh nah, not going with the rest of the team can be spun as “diva” behavior sorta fairly.
Not saying I’d call it that or it’s not defensible for him to have done that – it was prolly the extremely right move – but it almost definitionally fits the stupid “diva” definition people use. (Which is generally p racially coded.)
No way. He needed something different than the rest of the team so he organised something different himself in a way that didn’t impact anyone else. That doesn’t fit any definition of diva.
Your definition seems like it would define a wheelchair user as a diva for asking for a ramp when everyone else is using the stairs.
Actually a diva will do exactly what McEvoy did. Deciding not to travel with the team.
I’m sure MOC, Titmus and the real champions on the team have their specific training but still chose to travel and bond with the team.
The way you Aussie fans take things personally is very dumb.
Personally, ‘I don’t give a damn’.
This will give me the greatest joy if Cam can finally win an Olympic Gold medal.
The 2016 Olympic trials 100 free was one of the most perfect race I have ever seen.
This ^^^^^
It was the most divine 47 low swim. So beautiful.
Sounds like he’s doing some last minute fine-tuning to swim another perfect race.
Choker
cope harder
In defence of RealCrocker, he does think McEvoy will win the 50 free, but hoping against it.
Believing Australians will win but insulting them and praying they choke seems to be very common among a certain demographic
He is such a humble, smart and genuine guy. Really hoping to see him finally get his dream of an individual medal. Gold and a WR would be bonuses
I got the script.
21.1 heats
21.4 semis
21.5 finals for bronze
Sounds about right.
What a genuine guy
He makes a comment re the depth of sprinting… from the start sheets there are 39 men in 50 free with OQT’s… that is significantly deeper than all other events.