Cameron McEvoy sets 50m freestyle World Cup record in Tashkent
Australian Cameron McEvoy won the men's 50m freestyle in Tashkent with a time of 20.13 seconds, setting a new World Cup record and moving to second on the all-time list behind Jordan Crooks.
Cameron McEvoy won the men’s 50m freestyle final in Tashkent with a time of 20.13 seconds. The 32-year-old Australian Olympic champion set a new World Cup record and established Australian and Oceanian short-course marks with the swim.
How it reshapes the all-time list
McEvoy’s performance moved him to second-fastest ever in the short-course 50m freestyle. He now sits behind only Jordan Crooks, who holds the world record at 19.90 seconds. The swim reshapes the event's hierarchy just months after Crooks set his global benchmark.
The updated top five performers in the men's short-course 50m freestyle are now:
| Swimmer | Time (seconds) | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Jordan Crooks | 19.90 | 2024 |
| Cameron McEvoy | 20.13 | 2026 |
| Caeleb Dressel | 20.16 | 2020 |
| Ben Proud | 20.18 | 2023 |
| Egor Kornev | 20.26 | 2026 |
Context from the race and circuit
McEvoy improved his own World Cup benchmark, lowering the 20.22-second mark he set in Baku just one week prior by 0.09 seconds. The Tashkent final was a tight affair among the world's top sprinters.
Russian swimmer Egor Kornev finished second with a time of 20.61 seconds. His season best remains the 20.26 he swam in Baku. Australian Isaac Cooper took third place in 20.84 seconds, which was 0.03 seconds off his lifetime best of 20.81. Sean Niewold of the Netherlands finished fourth in 21.11 seconds.
McEvoy’s broader trajectory
At 32 and a new father, McEvoy has undergone a significant training shift. He previously trained as a 100m and 200m freestyler but has now committed to a sprint-specific regime. His current training volume is just 3km per week. This month, he executed a flip turn in a short-course pool for the first time in five years.
McEvoy is an Olympic champion and a two-time World title holder in the long course pool. His focus is now razor-sharp. "I need to look at my analysis," McEvoy said. "My swim speed, beautiful. Skills? Not so much."
Other notable performances in Tashkent
Dutch swimmer Marrit Steenbergen continued her dominant run on the World Cup circuit. She won the women’s 100m individual medley in 56.18 seconds, setting a European record. She remains second on the all-time list for that event.
I wasn't expecting to be doing a PB here so I'm really happy with that and a European record as well, Steenbergen said. She also won the 50m backstroke in 25.70 seconds. With four gold medals from the previous week and two more on Thursday, she leads the overall World Cup standings by 9 points over Roos Vanotterdijk.
In the women's 50m freestyle, Poland's Kasia Wasick claimed victory in 23.63 seconds. This followed her faster 23.40-second swim in Baku the week before. Cameron McEvoy now is the No. 2 performer in men’s 50m freestyle history, positioned to challenge Jordan Crooks’ world record in future short-course events.
