EXCLUSIVE: 'Alpha male-coded' Enhanced Games left red-faced by Cameron McEvoy's world record swim

Cate Campbell has questioned if the Enhanced Games ever had any credibility after Cameron McEvoy's world record swim put a dent in the controversial event's ability to attract attention.

McEvoy left the swimming world stunned when he shattered a long-standing 50m freestyle record that had been set by Cesar Cielo in 2009 during the super suit era.

Not only did the Australian shave 0.03 of a second off the Brazilian's record time of 20.91, but he also beat Kristian Gkolomeev's unofficial record of 20.89 that was achieved last year as a non clean athlete pursuing the prizemoney offered by the Enhanced Games.

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Gkolomeev's record was set at an event where athletes are allowed to use any performance-enhancing substance they wish, regardless of whether it is banned. As the Enhanced Games allows the use of performance-enhancing drugs, any world record achieved at the event will not be recognised by mainstream sporting federations.

The purpose of the controversial tournament is to challenge the traditional drug-free regulations used in sport with the aim of witnessing countless world records fall. The first Enhanced Games tournament will take place from May 21-24 this year.

McEvoy, 31, has proven that you do not need banned substances to shatter records that seem impossible.

It's a good news story for clean athletes but Campbell says the Enhanced Games was nothing more than a novelty act to begin with.

"I think it had hype but not credibility," Campbell told Wide World of Sports.

"It feels very alpha male-coded this whole Enhanced Games.

"We are still not at our limits of human capacities - Cam McEvoy is a prime example of that. He is figuring out how to swim faster by training smarter, not harder."

McEvoy does not follow traditional training programs that most Olympic superstars would, instead he has found low volume, high speed sessions work better for him.

One training session per day either in the pool or the gym is all McEvoy has on his schedule. Across the week he will average roughly eight kilometres in the pool, while his rivals can swim up to 30 kilometres per week across two sessions a day.

The training experiment has paid off remarkably for the reigning Olympic champion, who Campbell praised for turning the "rulebook on its head" to make the most of his talent and pioneer his method, which is a product of sports science.

"We want kids to look at someone like McEvoy, who has incredible integrity, but is also willing to take risks, try something new, and do that within the rules set by the sport," she said.

"Relying on performance-enhancing drugs is a lazy way to get to high-performance.

"(Athletes using) performance-enhancing drugs are called cheats for a reason. Instead of wanting to do the work, they are putting something artificial into their body to help enhance their performance.

"If they took all of that time, money and research and put it into better training, better nutrition ... we have barely scratched the surface of what we human beings are capable of because there's still so much about ourselves that we don't know."

The unknown is what the Enhanced Games are trying to discover through science, although many superstars of the sport, like Campbell, have noted the concept appears to be more a contest of athlete versus human body rather than athlete versus athlete.

Information about the long-term effects that come with being on performance-enhancing drugs are limited, but that has not deterred a collection of athletes with dollar signs in their eyes.

Fifteen competitors are registered for the swimming event at the Enhanced Games. Australian swimmer and three-time Olympic medallist James Magnussen is one of them.

"It's really heartening to see how few athletes have transitioned over," Campbell said.

"I understand the draw of it because athletes, particularly in Olympic sports, are not properly remunerated. They're not able to earn as much as they would be able to if they were in another professional sport.

"It speaks to the real integrity of people who go into Olympic sports that there are so few people that have been tempted to go across for really big payday."

Kyle Chalmers is one the biggest names in swimming who was approached to join the Enhanced Games, offered a multi-year deal worth around $3.8m AUD.

His decision to reject that offer not only enhanced his legacy in the sport, but also sent a strong message to the next generation that doping is not the future of swimming.

In fact, the swimmers who abide by the rules already have the upperhand on Enhanced Games athletes as they are "pushing the boundaries of human capacity and capability" on a regular basis in a competition environment to lower records without extra assistance.

"Let's continue to push the boundaries of what's possible, but let's do it in a way that teaches us something, so we're learning more about the human body and how we respond to certain stimulus or training information while (being) safe," Campbell added.

The Enhanced Games organisers will be hoping McEvoy's 50m freestyle record falls in May, with the 20-second barrier starting to look like a realistic mark to break.

Only five years ago, the idea of breaking the 21-second barrier didn't seem possible without a super suit.

Campbell believes McEvoy can still push the record further and has backed him to be the first to get under 20 seconds if indeed that mark is achievable.

"I'm not gonna say that he definitely can but if anyone can it is Cam," Campbell said.

"He's going from strength to strength and the more time he is given to play around with different training techniques ... that is only going to build on itself.

"It is a big shift to get to under 20 seconds. To shave 0.8 of a second is almost two body lengths over 50m ... we are working to incredibly fine margins.

"What Cam has done so far is incredible. It makes me even more excited to see what he still can do."

McEvoy is hoping to book a spot on the Australian team for the 2028 Olympic Games and go for back-to-back gold medals.