Cameron McEvoy plans to wrap up his Olympic swimming campaign with a science trip

HE IS hoping to leave Rio as the biggest name in swimming, catapulting him alongside Usain Bolt as a star of the games; but instead of partying, Cameron McEvoy has just one “must do” item on his list.

CAMERON McEvoy can’t wait to mix it with his idols in Rio next month – but none of them will be anywhere near the Olympic Games athletes’ village.

The changing face of the Australian swim team is underpinned by the 22-year-old sprint freestyler McEvoy who could become this country’s most successful Olympian at a single Games in Rio.

He is the world No. 1 in the blue riband 100m freestyle and with five chances to win gold he could leave Rio as the biggest name in swimming, catapulting him alongside the likes of Usain Bolt, Roger Federer or Serena Williams as the stars of the Games.

His stocks in the 100m freestyle skyrocketed yesterday when his main Russian rival Vladimir Morozov – the second fastest man in the event behind McEvoy – was banned by FINA from competing in Rio after he was named in WADA’s McLaren Report.

Australian swimming sensation Cameron McEvoy who is chasing five gold medals at next month's Rio Olympics

Morozov, who has a personal best of 47.62s, won’t race in Rio with suspicions over his past while fellow Russian sprinter Nikita Lobintsev was also banned handing Australia a far greater chance to win gold in the 4x100m freestyle relay as well.

It means McEvoy now has the perfect chance to turn a five-event meet into multiple Olympic gold medals, in turn becoming the biggest name in Australian swimming since Ian Thorpe retired.

A lot of the people I will meet in the facility are pretty much doing jobs in the field I want to be in when I’m older

Cameron McEvoy

But unlike stars of the past, this champion balances his life with a greater pursuit beyond the pool.

Instead of spending the second week in Rio cashing in on his popularity at an endless parade of parties and social engagements, the Gold Coast physics university student has just one “must do” item on his list.

He wants to meet the people who are living his dream career in a research lab and not in the pool.

“Post competition I’m going to go to the GE global research facility set up in Rio,” McEvoy said.

“A lot of the people I will meet in the facility are pretty much doing jobs in the field I want to be in when I’m older.

News Corp Olympic magazine in Wednesday papers

“It’s going to be equally as great just to meet and talk to people like that as well.”

McEvoy aspires towards a lifelong career in physics and being in Rio for the Olympics is just the perfect opportunity for McEvoy to visit a company inspired by US inventor Thomas Edison.

“Their history alone interests me, one of the founders of the company was Thomas Edison, he was the inventor of electricity for the consumer which is pretty cool,” he said.

McEvoy had gravitational wave marks on his swim cap at the Olympic trials

“Just that and seeing that type of heritage as well in Rio, I’m not going to see anything he did specifically but just to have that connection to the company and research facility there is something really cool.

“It’s the first research facility in Latin America, which is pretty exciting and a great step in the right direction for that area.

“I think it will be exciting, first of all they do research in a lot of the areas of physics that are borderline theoretical side and borderline practical too and they’re doing a lot of that research into better energy and that stuff is really interesting.”

CLICK HERE

Originally published as Cameron McEvoy plans to wrap up his Olympic swimming campaign with a science trip