In just over a week, Cam McEvoy may no longer be the fastest human in history to get from one end of a 50-metre pool to the other.
The Australian’s 50m freestyle world record, set in China in March, marked the culmination of a lifetime of dedication and hard work.
But it may soon be eclipsed by a swimmer taking performance-enhancing drugs and wearing a banned swimsuit in a makeshift sporting arena at Resorts World Las Vegas in front of a global audience at sport’s most controversial new event – the Enhanced Games.
Not that it will count as an official world record, or even that the reigning Olympic champion cares that much.
“Within the Enhanced Games camp, I’m sure they will think of it as a world record,” McEvoy said. “Outside of that camp, no one is going to see it in that light.”
When McEvoy clocked a lifetime-best of 20.88 two months ago, he did not earn a single dollar in bonuses.
Two of the athletes McEvoy beat in the men’s 50m freestyle final at the 2024 Olympics – England’s Ben Proud and Kristian Gkolomeev of Greece – will square off at the Enhanced Games on May 24 not only for a $US250,000 ($346,000) prize for finishing first, but a life-changing $US1 million ($1.38 million) bonus if they can better the Australian’s world mark.
The Enhanced Games, described by chief executive Maximilian Martin as “the Super Bowl of the Olympics”, have been condensed into a one-day event featuring swimming, athletics, and weightlifting.
The official event schedule has not yet been released, but organisers will stage 50m and 100m swimming races, a 100m sprint on the track, and events involving some of the world’s strongest weightlifters.
The results, of course, will not be officially ratified. Proud, Gkolomeev and Australian Olympian James Magnussen have all been using substances on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s banned list during a training camp in Abu Dhabi.
So has Fred Kerley, but all eyes will be on the American in the 100m sprint as he attempts to break Usain Bolt’s world record of 9.58 seconds.
Gkolomeev became an instant millionaire last May when he swam a time of 20.89 as part of an Enhanced Games documentary to promote the main event in Vegas. According to informed sources, Gkolomeev is every chance of going under McEvoy’s 20.88.
“I didn’t think anything of the 20.89 that Kristian did,” McEvoy said. “Now, if Ben or Kristian or anyone drops a time that’s faster, it’s definitely going to be a little carrot dangling in front of me to want to try and chase and try and beat. I’ll definitely try and target it.”
McEvoy says he had a plan if he did not break Cesar Cielo’s world record of 20.91 before the Enhanced Games.
Having managed to locate a “supersuit” – banned by swimming officials in 2010 because of the buoyancy advantage it provided – McEvoy was prepared to wear it and post a time for the Enhanced athletes to chase.
“I abandoned that and didn’t need to,” McEvoy said. “I think even if they do go faster at the Enhanced Games, I probably want to try and do it in the traditional suit anyway.”
While McEvoy clearly objects to the use of drugs in the pursuit of elite human performance, he cannot understand why banned supersuits will also be used in the swimming events. He does not believe it creates a fair playing field, even if organisers want to prove certain substances can make athletes quicker than him. Not all swimmers will wear a supersuit.
“It’s in the same ballpark as throwing on a set of fins [flippers] and doing some crazy time,” McEvoy said. “That double whammy [drugs and swimming suits] is going to basically make any time not really accessible to any recognition outside of the Enhanced camp.
“Generally speaking, I’m not surprised. The entire point of Enhanced is a very elaborate marketing arm of the Enhanced company itself for entertainment and getting eyes on their products. If they can sneakily get them into some very, very, very high-performance suits … the general public aren’t going to know that. From a strategic business point of view, it makes a lot of sense. For actually recording for a time … it doesn’t make sense.
“They should be in ‘jammers’ … what we race in traditionally.”
Asked how much difference the suits make, McEvoy was blunt.
“I have definitely put on a suit in training … it gives you a massive advantage,” McEvoy said. “We’re talking 0.4 of a second over 25 metres. I feel like it’s probably a bigger advantage the longer you get into the race, too. It’s a different world.”
Enhanced Games organisers have pitched the event as an alternative to the Olympics. However, clean athletes who do not take performance-enhancing substances are also welcome to compete. American swimmer Hunter Armstrong will be the only “non-enhanced” swimmer in Vegas, despite risking expulsion from Olympic and World Aquatics competition competitions.
For a clean athlete like McEvoy – a new father – the prospect of such enormous prizemoney at the Enhanced Games is a significant lure. He says he is intrigued by Armstrong’s predicament ahead of his races in the 100m freestyle and 50m backstroke in Las Vegas.
“I’ve heard Hunter has been going through a lot. I haven’t read any comments from USA Swimming or World Aquatics around his involvement yet, at least not publicly,” McEvoy said.
“I don’t know where they stand in terms of having Hunter, a clean athlete, competing at the Enhanced Games.
“Being a clean athlete myself, sitting within regular sport and not doing the Enhanced Games, I am intrigued to see what they say in response to that.
“It is an interesting concept, having someone go in as clean.”
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Tom Decent is the chief sports writer for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.
