Cameron McEvoy Strikes Gold with New Training Method

Cameron McEvoy, the Australian swimmer who recently made waves at the Olympics, has some exciting news for sports fans. At 30 years old, he just became the first Aussie man to take home gold in the 50m freestyle event.

McEvoy didn’t just skate by to victory; he clocked in an impressive time of 21.25 seconds, beating out competitors like England’s Benjamin Pound and French swimmer Florent Manaudou. After feeling burnt out just two years ago, he shared how victorious this moment feels. “(I feel) just literally pure joy. It is amazing to win,” he said, reflecting on the “bliss” he found in those fleeting seconds.

What’s interesting is how McEvoy got to this point. After stepping away from swimming for nearly all of 2022, he shifted his focus to different training styles. He traveled around Europe, let his mind breathe, and even played around with weightlifting and rock climbing. This shift led him to a brand new training methodology, which he’s calling the “McEvoy method.”

Former teammates like Ian Thorpe and Giann Rooney were thrilled to hear about his win, showing just how well-liked he is. He believes that his fresh approach could help others in the sport, saying, “With this new training approach now, I think I can help so many people around the world and push sprinting forward.”

Previously, McEvoy hit a rough patch in his Olympic career, struggling with his performance during the 2021 Games in Tokyo. At that time, he finished 29th in the 50m freestyle. Fast forward to today, and he’s become a world champion, showing that a change in strategy can lead to amazing results.

He redoubled his training efforts, reducing his pool time drastically, sometimes swimming less than 3 km a week. His routine focused more on building strength and explosive speed, a change from the rigorous, traditional training that had once worn him out.

McEvoy recalled how the shorter sprint races left no room for mistakes. “You’ve got to be thinking on the fly and you’ve got to be really nailing those key tiny little .01, .02 second skills,” he noted. As it turns out, those crucial details came into play during his gold medal run in Paris.

In a thrilling race, McEvoy secured a thunderous start, getting the fastest reaction time off the block. He managed to keep his cool, saying he was in a “flow state” for most of the race, though he admitted he could still improve on his finish technique.

Celebrating his victory, McEvoy expressed the emotional weight that comes with achieving gold in his fourth Olympics. “It’s been a long road. This is my fourth Olympics, and I guess the context of how different these Olympics are,” he said while smiling widely.

Feeling the excitement of his hard-fought success, McEvoy isn’t stopping there. He has ambitious plans for the future, aiming to extend his swimming career and even chase dreams of becoming an astronaut.