Champion swimmer Cameron McEvoy has shocked fans and the Australian swimming family by announcing his split with long-term girlfriend Violet Atkinson.
The 24-year-old confirmed the split this week, saying it was ‘friendly and amicable’ and nothing like the messy separation of Mitch Larkin and Emily Seebohm.
McEvoy said unlike fellow swimmers Larkin and Seebohm’s bitter bust-up, his break-up with Ms Atkinson had nothing to do with a third party.
Larkin was accused of cheating on Seebohm, an accusation he denies.
Champion swimmer Cameron McEvoy, 24 (right), has shocked fans and the Australian swimming family by announcing his split with long-term girlfriend Violet Atkinson, 24 (left)
McEvoy (right) confirmed the split this week, saying it was ‘friendly and amicable’ and nothing like the messy separation of fellow swimmers Mitch Larkin and Emily Seebohm
McEvoy (right) said his break-up with Ms Atkinson (left) had nothing to do with a third party
‘It’s nothing like that situation, I can assure you,’ McEvoy told The Daily Telegraph, adding he and Ms Atkinson were simply on ‘different trajectories’.
He said the amicable decision to go their separate ways was mostly due to the fact that Ms Atkinson’s career was taking her more and more to Sydney and Melbourne.
Ms Atkinson, a self-styled influencer and fashion blogger – who is also a lawyer – with more than 18,000 Instagram followers, has spent the last week mingling with celebrities and sporting legends in Flemington’s glamorous Birdcage.
‘My training base is on the Gold Coast and I am happy here and we just decided that our relationship’s dynamic was more suited to just being very, very good friends,’ McEvoy said.
McEnvoy also denied rumours the break-up had anything to do with him focusing on swimming following a disheartening performance at the Rio Olympics in 2016.
Despite seemingly being at the top of his game, and going into the 100m freestyle as the reigning world record holder, the two time Olympic swimmer placed seventh.
Emily Seebohm (right) broke up with fellow Mitch Larkin (left) in July after it was alleged he was having an affair with another swimmer outside the Olympic team. He has denied cheating on Seebohm
McEvoy (left) said the amicable decision to separate was mostly due to the fact that Ms Atkinson’s (right) career was taking her more and more to Sydney and Melbourne
McEvoy also denied rumours the break-up had anything to do with him focusing on swimming following a disheartening performance at the Rio Olympics in 2016
Ms Atkinson (left and right) is a self-styled influencer and fashion blogger – who is also a lawyer – with more than 18,000 Instagram followers
The couple, who met 13 years ago as children at Northcliffe Surf Club, celebrated their four-year anniversary on the eve of the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
‘Cam and I met at Northcliffe Surf Club doing nippers when we were 11,’ Ms Atkinson previously told The Gold Coast Bulletin.
‘I was homeschooled with my younger brother so I made most of my friends at surf lifesaving.
‘We were friends for a long time and didn’t actually start dating until the day before he left for the Glasgow Games in 2014,’ she said.
At the time, Ms Atkinson praised her relationship with McEvoy, saying they both were ‘super chill’ and enjoyed spending quite time with their groodle puppy Apollo.
Ms Atkinson has also said she does not hold any grudges over the split.