Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
If Cameron McEvoy’s calculations are correct, the Australian swimmer is on track to light up the Commonwealth Games with another world record.
Of course there are variables at play, but the world and Olympic champion – and owner of 50m freestyle’s fastest legal time – is quietly confident he can go even faster next month.
“That’s the entire point around this part of the season,” he told AAP.
The 34-year-old, in his fourth Olympics, became the first Australian man to win gold in the 50m freestyle at the Paris Games two years ago.
Following a hunch and leaning on his studies in maths and quantum physics, McEvoy has practically reinvented short-distance swimming.
Put simply, he has drastically restricted his time in the pool and focused on power and explosiveness in the gym.
Without even swimming beyond 25m in training he surprised even himself to beat Brazilian Cesar Cielo’s 2009 mark (20.91 seconds) at the China Open, touching the wall in 20.88 in March.
Kristian Gkolomeev (20.81) then bettered that at the inaugural Enhanced Games in Las Vegas, the record an unofficial one given the use of performance-enhancing drugs and polyurethane super-suits.
A social media post from McEvoy read “Seriously?! That’s all you got!” in response.
The Australian could offer the ultimate reply in Glasgow, despite experiencing what he described as a “spanner in the works” in China.
“It’s taken a bit to recalibrate, but I’m on the come up and how I did at the trials was a good sign,” he said of his shock world record three months ago.
“I’ve never been in better shape this season to challenge that type of time.”
McEvoy clocked 21.32 in the Sydney trials, but said it was his 22.92 in the 50m butterfly that offered the best evidence.
“As you know I’m a data guy and if you look at my 50 ‘fly splits, my first 35 metres, I’m up there with some of the best in the world in that event,” he said.
“Where I’m at, I wasn’t quite prepped for that closing speed. To see I had that opening speed in the fly … gives me a lot of confidence.
“And maybe that could be an event I could be competitive in in the future, but what it did show me is that my base is still there.”
