2024 PARIS SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES
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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
heis so talented and seemed to find the perfect trainging for him and perfect balnce so I hope he swims at least until LA28. He will be 34…Ervin won gold at 35 in Rio… Maybe Brisbane32 is not completly out of the picture for him
McEvoy’s talent and attention to detail in training make him one of the favorites for gold in Paris, however, my question revolves around past performances in the Olympics, where the pressure is higher. McEvoy is very much a linear thinker and a perfectionist. If something goes out of kilter, he is likely to be thrown off more than other competitors who are looser and more relaxed. Can he conquer that, or will the same demons sneak up on him again? We’ll see. I’ve always liked watching him compete. He is uber talented and fun to watch. It’s just a matter of how his mind works when the pressure cooker is turned on.
2016 was his only real Olympic fumble. Tokyo can’t be considered a poor performance when he was never expected to perform well to begin with, he was lucky to make the team. In 2021 at trials he won the 50 but wasn’t under Aus qt and finished 3rd in the 100 only being given the individual cause temple handed it to him. This is his real shot to make up for 2016
“Cameron McEvoy” rearranged is “moo, cavemen cry”.
That is what he’ll say when he wins gold and the haters are upset
Prediction
McEvoy— 20.98
Dressel— 21.17
Manadou— 21.30
I’m a red, white, and blue patriot through and through. I want to Dressel to win, but honestly wouldn’t be sad to see Mcevoy win the slightest either because I love his story and he how he is training so differently. It’s going to be a fun one to watch!!!
These are the swimming fans that I can relate too.
I’m Aussie thru & thru & wants Titmus to win the 800 free, but wouldn’t be sad to see Ledecky further her greatness with a 4th win in the 800 free in the Olympics from when she was a 15 year old to now a 27 year old, what an amazing performance.
Hear hear.
I am neither Australian nor American and my country doesn’t have much success at global major meets. It affords me the freedom to enjoy fantastic swimming regardless of the nationality of the swimmers. I have some affinity for Australia as I have lived there for a number of years.
I can’t wait for Paris and watch Mcintosh, Sjostrom, mcEvoy, Ledecky, Mollie, McKeown, Popovici, Marchand, Titmus make history!
Couldn’t have said it better!
I am neither Australian, nor American nor do I live on planet earth.
Seeing these fleshmade beings perform in H²O, a substance otherwise unknown to me, is a galaxywide jubilant experience.
Go swimming earthlings!
My thoughts exactly!
Looking forward to 9 days of Olympic swimming.
Waking up at 4am each morning is gonna be painful, but not as painful as waking up knowing SwimDad and other residents of Trolltown will be spamming the live-recap threads whenever an Aussie is competing 🙁
C A M E R O N
M C E V O Y
An article about an Australian swimmer is alway filled with American trolls making low level trolling effort.
Australia and its 26 millions people living rent-free in the head of these trolls.
It’s quite sad isn’t it.
Imagine an article on Dressel & the Aussies talk about his illness Popovici & how he avoided him in this Olympics even.
well it’s a very serious disease robbos. Even endless talky talky with a qualified professional and buying some hobby donkeys and chickens ain’t cured it