The 21-year-old physics student overpowered a strong field to win the sprint late Monday in a new Commonwealth and Australian record of 47.04 seconds in this year’s fastest time in the event.
It placed McEvoy a tantalising 0.13secs off Brazilian Cesar Cielo’s 2009 world record of 46.91secs, making him nominally the man to beat in Brazil.
Only Cielo and Frenchman Alain Bernard (46.94) have registered quicker times than McEvoy’s effort, but significantly both were set in the controversial super-suit era.
The performance-enhancing, non-textile swimsuits were subsequently banned by world swimming’s governing body FINA after 43 world records fell at the 2009 Rome world championships.
McEvoy, surprised by how close he came to lowering the world record, said he would be a marked man in the lead-up to the Olympics in August.
“If I had known I was that close (to the world record), then there might have been something else in me that would have pushed me a bit further,” he said.
“But it’s a 0.52secs PB (personal best) off the PB I did in Perth (Aquatic Super Series in January). It’s unbelievable.
“It puts me into a good position come Rio, but in saying that there is a history of world number ones going in first and not coming out with the gold and the Olympics is notorious for not always producing the best time to win it.”
McEvoy, the silver medallist in the sprint at last year’s Kazan world championships, said his rivals would be fired up to beat him at Rio.
McEvoy, surprised by how close he came to lowering the world record, said he would be a marked man in the lead-up to the Olympics in August.
“If I had known I was that close (to the world record), then there might have been something else in me that would have pushed me a bit further,” he said.
“But it’s a 0.52secs PB (personal best) off the PB I did in Perth (Aquatic Super Series in January). It’s unbelievable.
“It puts me into a good position come Rio, but in saying that there is a history of world number ones going in first and not coming out with the gold and the Olympics is notorious for not always producing the best time to win it.”
McEvoy, the silver medallist in the sprint at last year’s Kazan world championships, said his rivals would be fired up to beat him at Rio.
