| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Chad Guy Bertrand le Clos |
| National team |  South Africa |
| Born | 12 April 1992 Durban, South Africa |
| Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) |
| Weight | 77.8 kg (172 lb) |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Swimming |
| Strokes | Butterfly, freestyle, medley |
| Club | Seagulls Swimming Club |
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. He won gold in the 200-metre butterfly and silver in the 100-metre butterfly in the2012 Olympics in London. He also won five medals at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics in Singapore. Le Clos has twice won the Overall Swimming World Cup: 2011 and 2013.
Biography
Le Clos was born to a Mauritian father and South African mother. 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, the world record holder, 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 4×100m 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.[3][4] 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.
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 in 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 |
Medal Record
Men's swimming
Competitor for South Africa
| Event | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
|---|---|---|---|
| Olympic Games | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| World Championships (LC) | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| World Championships (SC) | 6 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 10 | 3 | 0 |
Olympic Games
Gold: 2012 London - 200 m butterfly
Silver: 2012 London - 100 m butterfly
Silver: 2016 Rio de Janeiro - 200 m freestyle
Silver: 2016 Rio de Janeiro - 200 m freestyle
World Championships (LC)
Gold: 2013 Barcelona - 100 m butterfly
Gold: 2013 Barcelona - 200 m butterfly
Gold: 2015 Kazan - 100 m butterfly
Silver: 2015 Kazan - 200 m butterfly
World Championships (SC)
Gold: 2010 Dubai - 200 m butterfly
Gold: 2012 Istanbul - 100 m butterfly
Gold: 2014 Doha - 200 m freestyle
Gold: 2014 Doha - 50 m butterfly
Gold: 2014 Doha - 100 m butterfly
Gold: 2014 Doha - 200 m butterfly
Silver: 2012 Istanbul - 50 m butterfly
Commonwealth Games
Gold: 2010 Delhi - 200 m butterfly
Gold: 2010 Delhi - 400 m medley
Gold: 2014 Glasgow - 100 m butterfly
Gold: 2014 Glasgow - 200 m butterfly
Silver: 2010 Delhi - 4x100 m medley
Silver: 2014 Glasgow - 4x100 m freestyle
Bronze: 2010 Delhi - 4x100 m freestyle
Bronze: 2010 Delhi - 4x200 m freestyle
Bronze: 2014 Glasgow - 50 m butterfly
Bronze: 2014 Glasgow - 200 m medley
Bronze: 2014 Glasgow - 4x200 m freestyle
Bronze: 2014 Glasgow - 4x100 m medley
All-Africa Games
Gold: 2011 Maputo - 200 m butterfly
Gold: 2011 Maputo - 200 m medley
Gold: 2011 Maputo - 400 m medley
Gold: 2011 Maputo - 4x100 m freestyle
Gold: 2011 Maputo - 4x100 m medley
Silver: 2011 Maputo - 100 m butterfly
Youth Olympic Games
Gold: 2010 Singapore - 200 m medley
Silver: 2010 Singapore - 100 m butterfly
Silver: 2010 Singapore - 200 m butterfly
Silver: 2010 Singapore - 400 m freestyle
Bronze: 2010 Singapore - 4x100 m freestyle
