| Cameron McEvoy | |
| Nicknames: | "The Professor"[1] [2] "Big Boy McEvoy"[3] |
| National Team: | Australia |
| Strokes: | Freestyle |
| Club: | Somerville |
| Coach: | Tim Lane |
| Birth Date: | 13 May 1994[4] |
| Birth Place: | Benowa, Queensland, Australia |
| Height: | 1.85 m[5] |
| Weight: | 75 kg |
Cameron McEvoy (born 13 May 1994) is an Australian competitive swimmer who represented his country at the 2012 Summer Olympics,[6] 2016 Summer Olympics and 2020 Summer Olympics and 2024 Summer Olympics. He is the reigning Olympic champion in the men's 50m freestyle, and also the first Australian man to win a gold for this event.[7]
At the 2011 World Junior Championships in Lima, Peru, McEvoy won gold medals in the 50 m and 100 m freestyle, and a bronze in the 200 m freestyle.[8]
McEvoy swam in the heats of the 4 × 100 m freestyle and 4 × 200 m freestyle relays at the 2012 Olympics in London. Australia went on to finish in fourth and fifth place, respectively.[9] At the 2013 and 2015 World Aquatics Championships he has won a total of four medals, including the silver medal in the 100-metre freestyle in 2015.
At the 2014 Commonwealth Games, he won six medals. A month later at the 2014 Pan Pacific Championships, he won five medals including the gold medal in the 100-metre freestyle. He also won national titles in the 100- and 200-metre freestyle in 2014 and 2015.
At the 2016 National Championships and Olympic trials, McEvoy qualified for the Olympics in the 200-metre freestyle, by finishing first, tied with Thomas Fraser-Holmes.[10] He also qualified in the 100-metre freestyle by winning the race. His time of 47.04 broke the Australian and Commonwealth records and was the fastest time ever in a textile swimsuit, until Caeleb Dressel's performance at the 2019 World Championships.[11] He qualified for a third individual event when he won the 50-metre freestyle in a new personal best of 21.44.[12]
In addition, McEvoy also qualified for the Olympic team in the, freestyle relays & medley relay. Leading up to the games, he dropped the 200m freestyle to focus on being his freshest for the relays.[13]
At the 2016 Rio Olympics, McEvoy made it through the final of the 100m freestyle finishing 7th, but failed to make it past the semi finals of the 50m freestyle. He won two bronze medals as part of the 4x 100m freestyle relay and 4x 100m medley relay teams.
He was then knocked out in the heats of the 50m and 100m freestyle at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and again won another bronze medal in the 4x 100m freestyle relay.
At the 2023 World Aquatics Championships he won gold in the men's 50m freestyle beating out Jack Alexy and Benjamin Proud.
In the 2024 Paris Olympics, McEvoy won the gold medal in the men's 50m freestyle with a time of 21.25 seconds, once again narrowly edging out Benjamin Proud who took the silver, and Florent Manaudou who claimed the bronze.[14]
McEvoy studied physics and mathematics at Griffith University.[15] At the 2016 Olympic trials he gained attention by wearing a swim cap with the signal of two merging black holes to celebrate the first observation of gravitational waves that had been announced two months earlier.[16] [17] The year before he wore a cap showing a Feynman diagram of a positron and an electron annihilating.
McEvoy is the grandson of Barney McEvoy who played rugby league for New South Wales in 1960 and who played club rugby league for the North Sydney and Manly Warringah clubs.[18] [19]
In May 2021, McEvoy offered his house for A$1.5 million or the equivalent in bitcoin.[20] It's unclear if the house was sold.
| Event | Time | Record | Meet | |
| Long course | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 m freestyle | 21.06 | 2023 World Aquatics Championships | ||
| 100 m freestyle | 47.04 | CR, OC | 2016 Australian Championships | |
| 200 m freestyle | 1:45.46 | 2014 Australian Championships | ||
| Short course | ||||
| 50 m freestyle | 20.75 | 2015 Australian Short Course Championships | ||
| 100 m freestyle | 46.19 | 2016 Australian Short Course Championships | ||
| 200 m freestyle | 1:40.80 | OC | 2015 Australian Short Course Championships | |