Swimming sensation Cameron McEvoy, currently ranked number 1 in the world in 100m freestyle, recently revealed his poise and gratitude as a sportsman after securing two bronze medals for Australia at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Dubbed ‘The Professor’ for his excellence in academia, the 21 year old secured his place on the Olympic team after becoming the first Australian swimmer in history to win all 3 major freestyle titles - the 50m, the 100m and the 200m at the Australian Championships, including breaking the world record for the fastest time in history in a textile swimming suit. In doing so Cam broke the 100m Freestyle Commonwealth and Australian record time of 47.04 seconds.
It has been an incredible journey for Cameron in his short career. He rose to fame at age 16 and 17 where he broke Ian Thorpe’s age records in the 100m freestyle and was the youngest member of the Australian swim team at the 2012 London Olympics, earning a relay spot in the 200m freestyle. Cam’s subsequent success included winning gold at the 2014 Pan Pacific Championships in the 100m freestyle and representing Australia at the world championships in Kazan in 2015, narrowly missing out on gold in the 100m freestyle by a mere 0.11 seconds.
Out of the pool, Cameron is a buddying physicist and currently studying a Bachelor of Science majoring in Physics and Mathematics. He finished high school in the top 2% of his state. After his swimming career, Cam has ambitions to do his PhD in physics and work at NASA. He has already conducted research through a summer fellowship at Griffith University’s Centre of Quantum Dynamics looking into Nanodiamonds and their atomic properties, under world-renowned physicist Erik Streed.
Cameron embodies all the qualities we seek in our champions – he is humble, articulate, intelligent, and centred. His interests extend beyond the pool and to other pursuits including science, fashion, technology and other sports. Cameron’s coaches have said, “He’s got the goods to reach some great heights in swimming. He’s got control over his nerves and thrives on competition”.
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Cam McEvoy: How I Won Gold Without Swimming Much | The Project
Cam McEvoy nearly walked away from swimming, but he came up with a revolutionary new way of training that meant he swam less, and he told us how he finally won gold in Paris.
