Cameron McEvoy: The Hardest Sets I’ve Ever Done

With Rio just a few months away, the hype is again building around the men’s sprint events, in particular, the blue ribbon event, the 100m freestyle.

James Magnussen, formerly the fastest man ever over the distance in a textile suit (47.06) was heavily favored to win the title at the London Games, but American Nathan Adrian swam in for the upset. Adrian has been as consistent as ever since, clocking 48 lows regularly, while Magnussen is on the rebound from shoulder surgery.

Meanwhile, another Australian, Cameron McEvoy, has surged to the top of the medal contention by crushing a 47.56 at the Perth Aquatic Super Series meet this past February.

UPDATE: At the recent Australian Olympic Trials McEvoy crushed a 47.04 in the 100m freestyle, making him the fastest man ever to swim the event in a textile suit, and puts him a touch off Cesar Cielo’s supersuit world record.

In 2014 prior to the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, McEvoy did a Reddit-style AMA on Ask.fm where he discussed some of the hardest sets that he had ever done. The 21-year-old was perhaps better known for his 200 freestyle at the time of the interview, although now it seems like the 50 and the 100 are truly his bread and butter events.

If you like long sets these 4 swim workouts will be right up your alley.

SET 1

18×400 on 5 minutes as:

• 6 freestyle
• 6 freestyle/backstroke
• 6 freestyle/butterfly

SET 2

3 rounds–

• 500 swim @1:10 base
• 5×100 @1:10 max effort

SET 3

12×200 every 2^nd max and then 40×50 backstroke best effort @:45

SET 4

8×50 all-out from a dive to build up lactic acid @2

…followed by:

36×150 – 12@1:55, 12@1:50, 12@1:45