Cam McEvoy Weighs in On Enhanced Games: No World Record Will Be Recognized
A little more than a week before the Enhanced Games unfold during Memorial Day Weekend in Las Vegas, Australian superstar Cam McEvoy weighed in on the competition that allows performance-enhancing substances, along with the use of banned suits. The world-record holder and reigning Olympic champion in the 50-meter freestyle, behind a 20.88 clocking at the China Open in March, McEvoy noted that any Enhanced Games event that produces a time faster than the official world record will not hold weight.
“Within the Enhanced Games camp, I’m sure they will think of it as a world record,” said McEvoy, in an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald. “Outside of that camp, no one is going to see it in that light.”
In the 50 freestyle, the likes of Great Britain’s Ben Proud and Greece’s Kristian Gkolomeev will target McEvoy’s world record. If either man goes faster than 20.88, he will be awarded a $1 million bonus. However, the performance will not be recognized as an official world record, due to the use of performance-enhancing drugs and the utilization of a super suit, which have been barred from the sport since January 1, 2010.
McEvoy further assessed the Enhanced Games setup.
“It’s in the same ballpark as throwing on a set of fins and doing some crazy time,” he said. “That double whammy (doping/super suit) is going to basically make any time not really accessible to any recognition outside of the Enhanced camp. They should be in jammers, what we race in traditionally.”