Chad le Clos

Chad le Clos 2012

Chad Guy Bertrand Le Clos (* April 12, 1992 in Durban ) is a South African swimmer. At the Olympic Summer Games 2012 in London he won the race over 200m butterfly just ahead of Michael Phelps. A year later he became world champion in the 100 and 200 meter butterfly.

Career

At the Youth Olympic Games 2010 in Singapore le Clos won five medals, including gold over 200 meters Medley and two silver medals in swimming butterfly and a silver and a bronze medal in freestyle swimming.

In the same year he participated in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi in part and won five medals there. About 200 meter butterfly and 400 meter Medley he won gold and set in both disciplines competition records. He also won silver in the 4x100 meter relay team Medley and bronze respectively with the seasons on 4x100 and 4x200 -meter freestyle.

The 2010 also held short-course world championships in Dubai le Clos won gold over 200 meters butterfly. He swam five hundredths of a second faster than the world record carrier Kaio de Almeida and eleven hundredths of a second faster than the silver medalist of 2008, László Cseh.

The Pan-African Games in Maputo 2011 he won five gold medals and one silver medal. He won the 200 m butterfly, 200 and 400 meters Medley and with the scales on the 4x100 -meter freestyle and 4x100 meters Medley. His only silver medal he won in the 100 meters butterfly.

On the first day of the swimming competitions of the 2012 Summer Olympics he finished fifth over 400 meters individual medley; on the fourth day he won the gold medal in the 200 meter butterfly in 1:52,96 minutes and was five hundredths of a second faster than the winner of the two previous Olympic Games, Michael Phelps. On the following day, le Clos could qualify layers through seventh in the semifinals for the final 200 meters. On the seventh day he reached the 100 meters butterfly in second place and won the silver medal behind Phelps, who swam 0.23 seconds faster.

At the World Championships in 2013, he won the title in the 100 and 200 meter butterfly. In the same year he improved in Eindhoven the short-course world record in the 200 m butterfly on 1:49,04 minutes.