Chad le Clos
Chad Guy Bertrand le Clos OIS, (born 12 April 1992) is a South African competitive swimmer who is an Olympic, World and Commonwealth Games champion as well as the Commonwealth record holder in the 50 and 100-metre butterfly.[1] He won gold in the 200-metre butterfly and silver in the 100-metre butterfly in the 2012 Olympics in London. He also won five medals at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics in Singapore. Le Clos has won the Overall Swimming World Cup three times: 2011, 2013 and 2014.
Contents
Biography
Le Clos was born to a Mauritian father and South African mother.[2][3] He attended Westville Boys' High School in Durban, South Africa, matriculating in 2010. He has been swimming from a very young age, and when he started competing at the age of 10 he already had a few years of training under his belt.
He was conferred the silver Order of Ikhamanga on 27 April 2013. In a statement by the Chairperson of the National Orders Advisory Council, Dr. Cassius Lubisi, le Clos was conferred the honour "For his excellent achievements on the international swimming stage, especially at the London Olympics in 2012, thus placing South Africa in high standing globally in the field of Aquatic sports."
He was also announced as the KZN Newsmaker of the Year 2013 at the Durban City Hall on 9 October 2013. The event was hosted by the Durban University of Technology, the City of Durban, and the DUT Journalism Advisory Board. Radio personality Alan Khan was the programme director. Le Clos was not present to receive his award as he was swimming in Moscow. His father, Bert le Clos, received the honour on le Clos' behalf.
Le Clos won the Daily News SPAR Sports Person of the Year in 2010 in which the top school sportsmen are nominated.
2010 Short Course World Championships and Commonwealth Games
At the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, India Le Clos collected 2 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze medals. He won the titles in the 200-metre butterfly and the 400-metre individual medley, breaking the Games record in both events. At the World Short Course Championships in Dubai, Le Clos won the gold medal in the 200-metre butterfly. He narrowly beat Brazilian Kaio de Almeida by 0.05 of a second and Hungarian László Cseh, the 2008 Olympic silver medalist, by 0.11 of a second.
2011 Long Course World championships
At the 2011 World Aquatics Championships in Shanghai, he finished fifth in the 200-metre butterfly, 13th in the 100-metre butterfly and 10th in the 4 × 100 m medley relay with his teammates.
2012 Olympics
On the first day of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London Le Clos finished fifth in the 400-metre individual medley. On the fourth day, Le Clos won the gold medal in the 200-metre butterfly in 1min 52.96 sec, edging out the two-time defending olympic champion and world record holder, Michael Phelps, by 0.05 seconds. Le Clos had stated before the games, in personal information given to the media, that his sporting hero is Michael Phelps, and that beating his hero was totally unexpected.[4][5] The next day Le Clos qualified for the final of the 200-metre individual medley by swimming the (tied) seventh time in the semi-finals, but he withdrew to focus on the 100-metre butterfly. On the seventh day of the competition Le Clos won the silver medal in the 100-metre butterfly, tied with Yevgeny Korotyshkin in a time of 51.44 sec, at 0.23 sec behind Phelps.
In the course of the 2012 Games, Chad's father, Bert le Clos, became an instant media personality as a result of being interviewed on British television about his son's achievement of winning a gold medal.[6]
2013 Long Course World championships
After his Olympic success, Chad came into the World Championships as a threat. This year however, Le Clos shortened his program, deciding to only take part in the butterfly events. In his first event, the 50-metre butterfly, Chad came 23rd with a time of 23.76, unable to advance to the semi-finals. In his signature event, the 200-metre butterfly, after easily breezing into the final he followed his win from the Olympics, where he won with a 1:54.32. He finished off his schedule by winning the 100-metre fly with a new national record of 51.06, ending the championships on a good note.
Career best times
Long course (50-metre pool)
| Event | Time | Venue | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 200 m freestyle | 1:46.10 | Kazan | 3 August 2015 | |
| 50 m butterfly | 23.29 | Glasgow | 24 July 2014 | |
| 100 m butterfly | 50.56 | Kazan | 8 August 2015 | AF, NR |
| 200 m butterfly | 1:52.96 | London | 31 July 2012 | AF, NR |
| 200 m IM | 1:58.49 | London | 1 August 2012 | |
| 400 m IM | 4:12.24 | London | 28 July 2012 |
Short course metres (25-metre pool)
| Event | Time | Venue | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 m freestyle | 46.29 | Doha | 27 August 2014 | |
| 200 m freestyle | 1:41.45 | Doha | 3 December 2014 | |
| 50 m butterfly | 21.95 | Doha | 6 December 2014 | |
| 100 m butterfly | 48.44 | Doha | 4 December 2014 | WR |
| 200 m butterfly | 1:48.56 | Singapore | 5 November 2013 | WR |
| 200 m IM | 1:51:56 | Dubai | 1 September 2014 | |
| 400 m IM | 3:59.23 | Tokyo | 9 November 2013 |
See also
References
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External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chad le Clos. |
- London 2012 Official Profile
- Chadleclos.com fan site (Unofficial)
- Chadleclos.info fan and information site (Unofficial)
| Records | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Men's 100-metre butterfly world record-holder (short course) 4 December 2014 – present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Preceded by | Men's 200-metre butterfly world record-holder (short course) 7 August 2013 – present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Sporting positions | ||
| Preceded by | Male World Cup Overall Winner 2011 2013, 2014 |
Succeeded by Kenneth To Cameron van der Burgh |
| Awards | ||
| Preceded by | African Swimmer of the Year 2012 – 2015 |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Preceded by | FINA Swimmer of the Year 2014 |
Succeeded by Mitch Larkin |
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Chad le Clos (- EngvarB from April 2015
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- 1992 births
- Living people
- Swimmers at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics
- Commonwealth Games gold medallists for South Africa
- South African swimmers
- Mauritian swimmers
- White South African people
- Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Olympics
- Olympic swimmers of South Africa
- Sportspeople from Durban
- Olympic gold medalists for South Africa
- Olympic silver medalists for South Africa
- Olympic medalists in swimming
- Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m)
- Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics
- Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for South Africa
- Swimmers at the 2014 Commonwealth Games
- Recipients of the Order of Ikhamanga
- World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming
- World record holders in swimming
