Cameron McEvoy arrives in Baku as the fastest man in history over 50m Freestyle, and he is back on the Swimming World Cup circuit for the first time since 2019. He also has no fixed race plan for the tour.
The Australian clocked his World Record time of 20.88 at the China Open in Shenzhen earlier this year, following a season built around gym work in which he admits he “barely swam” for the first half of the year. He is now taking that same experimental mindset into short course, and also making a return to competing in the 100m Freestyle.
Racing as training
For McEvoy, the three-stop Silk Road Tour is preparation for the World Aquatics Swimming Championships (25m) in Beijing in December, having not competed internationally in short course for more than six years.
“These World Cups are hugely important for me, because I would not like to rock up to the Short Course [World Swimming Championships] after not doing any short course competitions for a number of years,” he said.
He sees the Silk Road Tour as valuable training as well as race practice.
“I'm a huge proponent of racing being the best form of training as well,” he said.
"I get three weekends back-to-back-to-back, where I get the most potent form of training, where it's not only the actual stimulus of the race, but I do that alongside the best in the world as well"
His plan is to use each stop to test a different approach to the 100m Freestyle.
“[There are] three different race strategies I'm testing out,” he explained.
“That's going to give me so much data. Then I kind of cherry-pick all the good stuff, and then hopefully the Worlds is the best of the lot.”
McEvoy is also candid about the risks of stepping into a longer discipline, where poor pacing carries a heavy physical penalty.
“I've seen many people who have a lot of top-end speed and they go out a little bit too hard and then that last 25 [metres] it hits,” he said.
“But in general I’m excited for it. I want to beat my PB from the past, 46.1. If I do that, I think that'd be good.”
The turns will be part of his test too. Having barely executed a flip turn since the Tokyo Games in 2021 until about 10 weeks ago, McEvoy is now hitting the walls faster than ever.
“It's been nice to have something new to play with and experiment with,” he said.
Where it began
McEvoy's first Swimming World Cup was in Singapore in 2011, and it is still his favourite memory of the circuit. It was his first international meet on the open scene, and it put him alongside swimmers he had grown up watching on television.
“I'm a swimmer. I grew up watching anything that was on TV: World Championships, Commonwealth Games, Olympics, World Cups," he recalled.
“That was my first exposure to meeting these idols in person.”
It was also the meet where he first met Ian Thorpe, who was making his first comeback swim ahead of an attempt at the 2012 London Games.
“A few kind of ‘meet your idol’ moments, which was really special,” McEvoy said.
The Silk Road
For McEvoy, the tour is also a chance to see parts of the world he had never planned to visit. Baku, Tashkent and Astana are all firsts for him, and he is already enjoying the first stop.
“Here in Baku already, it's a beautiful city. I've really enjoyed driving around and seeing what it's like,” he said.
His main ambition for the second stop in Uzbekistan is more personal.
“I really want to get matching hats with my son. I really want to get an Uzbeki hat, which is going to be epic,” McEvoy said.
He values the chance to support the growth of swimming in the three host countries.
“We have swim clinics on. All the fans come and watch, so we get to meet them,” he said.
“You don't only see the culture, but you also see the culture of swimming that's nested within the full culture.”
McEvoy believes bringing the Swimming World Cup to new host cities can inspire the next generation.
“I can imagine it's going to be electrifying for the grassroots, for the kids who are around dabbling in swimming,” he said.
"They come and watch and it's just that sparkle, that moment that makes them want to take that extra step forward and commit a little bit more"
Friends as well as rivals
Unlike a World Championships or the Olympics Games, athletes are not split into national teams on the Swimming World Cup.
It provides a different competitive environment that McEvoy enjoys being a part of.
“It humanises a lot of the people within the sport,” he said.
“A lot of the people who are travelling through the entire tour, I only see as a person on the screen in a lane.”
“This type of tour breaks down those walls. As everyone being swimming nerds, there's a lot of cross-swimming talk. You get to understand what people in Belgium are doing, what people in USA are doing.”
Follow all the action from the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup Silk Road Tour in Baku, Tashkent and Astana across World Aquatics’ website and social media platforms, and find out Where to Watch here.
Full results, schedules and updates from stop one in Baku are available here.
Media covering the Silk Road Tour can find the latest rights-free content from each stop on the World Aquatics MEDIA POOL.