LeagueNews.co | Cooper McEnroe
Cameron McEvoy recently honored his wife and their three-week-old son, Hartley, after clinching gold in the 50m freestyle event at the Swimming World Championships. At 31, McEvoy had only recently become a father when he had to make the difficult decision to leave his family behind and travel to Singapore for the championships.
His gold medal victory marked him as the oldest male Australian swimmer to achieve this feat. In a heartfelt moment, McEvoy expressed gratitude towards his wife, who has been supporting their family while he pursued his athletic goals. "Shoutout to (wife) Maddi at home, I couldn't be here without her; shoutout to Hartley, my three-week-old son," he stated.
After the race, he mentioned plans to return home and help with night routines and enjoy family life: "I'm going straight to the newborn trenches. I'll start to do the night routines, help Maddi, and just enjoy the bubble, really. It sounds cliché, but win or lose, I'm going home a winner. It has given me a new light on the sport, on life, something new to navigate. And I'll see where it takes me in the future."
McEvoy successfully defended his title from the Paris Olympics, clocking 21.14 seconds for first place. He acknowledged the uncertainty of when he would re-enter the competitive swimming scene due to his new fatherly responsibilities, but confirmed that this isn't the end of his career. "But I'm not stopping," he asserted. "Imagine telling myself in 2022 this is where I'd be - you couldn't write a script like that. The dream lives on, right? My story just goes for a while."
Following his victory, McEvoy shared a touching photo of his wife and son watching his race back home in Australia. Reflecting on past struggles, he revealed that he had contemplated quitting swimming back in 2022. However, he persevered and adapted his training methods, leading to back-to-back gold medals in the 50m freestyle at both the Olympics and World Championships.