By Ian Ransom
PARIS (Reuters) - Three years ago Australian swimmer Cameron McEvoy had all but quit the pool and resigned himself to a sporting career lacking a crowning Olympic achievement.
On Friday, the 30-year-old became his country's first gold medallist in the 50 metres freestyle at his fourth Olympics, winning the "splash-and-dash" by a fingertip from Britain's Ben Proud.
McEvoy's first individual Olympic medal in Paris was the culmination of a change of heart and an incredible reinvention following continual Olympic disappointment.
A former 100 metres freestyle world champion, McEvoy finished seventh at Rio and failed to make the 50m final.
At Tokyo, he bombed out in both events.
In 2022, he did not swim a competitive race but spent plenty of time in the gym.
Nicknamed "The Professor" in Australia, former maths and physics student McEvoy may be the country's most cerebral swimmer.
So when he decided to return to the pool, he embarked on a journey of experimentation, data-gathering and self-discovery.
He bulked up an extra 10kg and slashed his training load to short, intensive bursts rather than the rinse-repeat formula of most swimmers, which entails thousands of laps before tapering.
Coaches schooled in old ways were dismissive of McEvoy's new regime, but the results were beyond his wildest dreams.
In Fukuoka last year he became Australia's oldest world champion swimmer when he swept to the 50m freestyle title.
"Very long road, but an exciting one, too," said McEvoy of his transformation.
"It was a huge act of creation and a risk doing a different approach, but obviously it paid off."
Small wonder McEvoy celebrated his gold with a rare show of emotion in La Defense Arena.
"Just literally pure joy. It’s amazing to win, but that entire 21.25 seconds was bliss," McEvoy said.
"The way the stroke moved in the water – I never thought I’d be able to experience that, the joy of the movement I just did, let alone get a gold medal with it. It’s unreal."
The silver was also a delight for Briton Proud, a twice world champion who narrowly missed the podium at Rio 2016 and finished fifth at Tokyo after a disrupted training regime due to COVID-19.
"Three years ago is when about this time I just burst into tears," said the 29-year-old.
"I couldn't take the fact that I kind of failed in my race back in Tokyo.
"But that was probably the most fitting thing I went through because if I hadn't gone through that I wouldn't have experienced these past three years, which had been the highest of highs and lowest of lows."
(Reporting by Ian Ransom; Additional reporting by Rohith Nair; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
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