(Reuters) -With a newborn baby and another gold medal, life just keeps getting better for Cameron McEvoy, who became Australia’s oldest world champion after winning his second 50 metres freestyle title in Singapore on Saturday.
Since putting retirement plans on hold to reinvent himself as a bulked-up sprinter in 2022, the 31-year-old Gold Coast native has enjoyed a glorious late-career flourish and continues to push boundaries.
The Olympic champion added another chapter to what should be a compelling post-career book as he saw off Briton’s Ben Proud, the man he beat in Paris, for the 50 gold in Singapore with a cracking time of 21.14 seconds.
McEvoy, who went through a 17-week training bloc to prepare for the meet, will now take a break from swimming to soak up the joys of fatherhood, having welcomed son Hartley into the world last month with wife Maddi.
“I’m going straight to the newborn trenches,” said McEvoy, toting a plush toy for his boy.
“I’ll start to do the night routines, help Maddi, and just enjoy the bubble, really.
“Maddi put the little (baby’s) jumpsuit together, saying ‘Number 1 fan, go Dad’ on it. It was so cool to see.
“Hopefully next time, they’ll be in the stands, and that’ll be even more special.”
Nicknamed “The Professor” in Australia, McEvoy is renowned for his cerebral approach to swimming, designing his own training programme and dispensing with traditional methods.
He said his winning time was “really exciting for the longevity”.
“Not sure when I’ll be back in (the pool), but I’m not stopping,” he added.
“Imagine telling myself in 2022 this is where I’d be. You couldn’t write a script like that.
“The dream lives on, right?”
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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