Cam McEvoy Confirms His 100m Freestyle Return on the World Aquatics Silk Road World Cup Tour
The world’s fastest man Cam McEvoy will officially launch his comeback to the 100m freestyle at this year’s World Aquatics World Cup Tour in October.
McEvoy, the world record holder in the 50m freestyle, has revealed he will contest the 50 and 100m freestyle and 50m butterfly on The Silk Road Tour and will bypass the Australian Short Course Sprints Meet in Sydney at the end of September.
The 2024 Paris 50m freestyle Olympic champion wants to add the 100m to his repertoire in the countdown to LA28 – which is a huge plus for Australia’s 4x100m freestyle aspirations in what could well be one of the real blockbuster showdowns against the U.S. in font of 40,000 people at SoFi Stadium.
The 32-year-old Australian still holds the longstanding Australian long course record for 100m freestyle with his textile suit time of 47.04, set at the 2016 Australian Olympic Trials.
The $US1.2 million World Cup short course tour will see three stops across Eurasia:
Stop 1: Baku, Azerbaijan (October 1–3)
Stop 2: Tashkent, Uzbekistan (October 8–10)
Stop 3: Astana, Kazakhstan (October 15–17)
The Australian SC Championships and World SC Championship Trials will be swum over four days from September 29-October 2 – clashing with stop one in Baku.
And although McEvoy won’t swim the Trials – traditionally the only selection pathway – in an update from Swimming Australia today, there will be provision for a swimmer to be added to the team as a wildcard based on performances on the World Cup Tour.
But with McEvoy nit swimming at the Trials, it leaves Kyle Chalmers, Isaac Cooper. Jamie Jack and rising star Ollie Moclair (depending on entries) to battle it out in McEvoy’s absence – with only Chalmers’ pb and Australian record of 20.68 sitting under the Qualifying time of 20.80.
But with news also breaking this week that the International Swimming League will return with the London Aquatics Centre in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park to host an all-star match on Saturday, December 19, 2026, McEvoy is certain to be on the ISL shopping list.,
The overall World Cup Series champions (men and women) will take home $100,000 for first; $70,000 for second and $30,000 for third. There is a world record bonus of $10,000 for any athlete who breaks or equals a World Record during the World Cup series receives $10,000 per record. Winning the same individual event across all three legs (Baku, Tashkent, and Astana) also yields a $10,000 crown bonus.
World Aquatics has also confirmed the prize money structure for Beijing – a total prize pool of at least $US2,025,000 will be on offer to the best-performing swimmers and relay teams at December’s event.
The prize money will be distributed equally between men and women, across both individual events and relays, rewarding finishes from 1st through to 8th place. Winners in every individual and relay event will receive USD $10,000, with USD $8,000 for 2nd place, and USD $2,000 for 8th place.
Additional bonuses will reward standout performances. Swimmers who set a new World Record during the Championships will receive an impressive $US 25,000 for each record broken, in addition to their placement prize money.
There is also a bonus on offer for swimmers who complete a “Double Crown” – winning the same event at all three stops of the 2026 Swimming World Cup Silk Road Tour series as well as at the World Aquatics Swimming Championships (25m). That bonus has been increased for 2026, rising from USD $10,000 to USD $15,000 per Double Crown achieved.
McEvoy’s personal short course bests are:
50m freestyle: 20.75 (2015)
100m freestyle: 46.19 (2016)
50m butterfly: 23.66 (2012)
Current SC World Records, 50, 100m freestyle; 50m butterfly
| 50m Freestyle | Jordan Crooks | (Cayman Islands) | 19.90 secs | Dec, 2024 |
| 100m Freestyle | Kyle Chalmers | (Australia) | 44.84 secs | Oct, 2021 |
| 50m Butterfly | Noè Ponti | (Switzerland) | 21.32 secs | Dec, 2025 |