Radical swim training approach pays off for Cameron McEvoy with ‘really special’ record

• Australian says he has ‘barely done much swimming’ since August

• Longstanding 50m splash and dash record broken last week in China

Cameron McEvoy knew he was fast, but he surprised both himself and the world of elite swimming when he hit the wall at the end of the 50m freestyle at the China Open on Friday. The clock read 20.88sec, securing the Australian a lifelong goal.

The Queenslander had broken a longstanding world record, set in the era of now-banned super-suits, by three hundredths of a second.