FLASH! Cam McEvoy Rockets To 50 Free World Record In 20.88
Cam McEvoy redefined the 50 free world record as he rocketed to 20.88 to consign Cesar Cielo’s 2009 standard to history at the China Open.
Cielo’s mark of 20.91 had stood since December 2009 as the supersuit era staggered towards its end. The Brazilian himself had surpassed Fred Bousquet’s 20.94 WR mark from April 2009 with the pair the only two men to break 21secs.
That was until McEvoy went 0.03 inside Cielo’s mark with the Australian now holding the world record on top of the Olympic and world crowns with his wife Madeline and son Hartley present in Shenzhen to witness the 31-year-old make history.
Caeleb Dressel was the fastest man in textile until today, twice posting 21.04 in 2019 and 2021, with the American third fastest in history, 0.02 ahead of McEvoy who posted 21.06 en-route to the world title at Fukuoka 2023.
Now McEvoy stands at the summit, 16 years and three months after Cielo set that world record and he posted to social media, saying:
“WORLD RECORD!! 20.88s
“The chance is high that the truth lies in the fashionable direction. But, on the off-chance that it is in another direction — who will find it? Only someone who has sacrificed himself by teaching himself from a peculiar and unfashionable point of view; one that he may have to invent for himself“ – Richard Feynman
Cielo also posted a personal message, saying: “Congrats, Cam! Lightning fast swim! Incredible! I saw a phrase a while ago that perfectly captures what you’ve been doing. You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” Congratulations!” 
To which McEvoy replied: “Thank you @cesarcielof – “If I have seen further than others, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants” and you my friend are a giant in this sport 🤝 full respect for your 17 years. I will do my best to uphold your example!”
Cielo hailed McEvoy as “The sprint king!!! Congrats, Cam!!! 👑⚡️🏊🏻♂️” after World Aquatics posted on social media.
Adam Peaty – himself a double world record holder – Ariarne Titmus, Bruno Fratus and James Guy were among those to offer their congratulations on top of Cielo’s sprint king message. Fellow Australian olympic champion Kyle Chalmers – who was third in the world record race – described his teammate’s swim as “insane” while Tom Dean and Yohann Ndoye Brouard also offered their praise.
Swimming Australia posted to social media, saying:
All-Time Performers
1] 20.88: Cam McEvoy, China Open, march 2026
2] 20.91: Cesar Cielo, Brazilian Championships, December 2009
3] 20.94: Fred Bousquet, French Championships, April 2009
4] 21.04: Caeleb Dressel, World Championships, July 2019
4] 21.04: Caeleb Dressel, US Olympic Team Trials, June 2021
6] 21.11: Ben Proud, European Championships, August 2018