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EVER since Chad l e Clos toppled Michael Phelps as the Olympic 200m butterfly king four years ago, he has wanted to achieve the mantle of greatness as well.
On Monday he embarks on realising that dream when he bids to defend the title he won as a young upstart at London 2012.
Le Clos will compete in the heats on Monday with the semifinals scheduled for late in the night (3.16am Tuesday SA time).
Only one man has successfully defended his Olympic crown in this event, and that was Phelps, the American legend and the most prolific medallist in Olympic history who returned to the pool after a two-year retirement following the last Games.
In that time Le Clos usurped Phelps’s 100m and 200m butterfly titles at the 2013 world championships, and the following year he was without peer in the fly at the Commonwealth Games.
But in 2015 veteran Hungarian Laszlo Cseh stunned Le Clos to take the 200m butterfly title.
The South African kept his 100m title, but in the US at the same time Phelps competed in a small gala and clocked the year’s fastest times in both races.
This year Cseh has thrown down the gauntlet with the year’s fastest times in both races, and his 1min 52.91sec in the 200m butterfly is the quickest since 2009.
And do not ignore the two highly ranked Japanese swimmers, Daiya Seto and Masato Sakai, who are part of their country’s programme to produce champions at the Tokyo Games in 2020.
Le Clos faces a horde of challengers in what could be the most competitive men’s swimming event of the Games.
And Le Clos will have to go faster than he has ever been before — his personal best remains his golden 1:52.96 from four years ago — to realise his goal of being a great butterfly swimmer.
He has spoken about world records in the past, and although he has achieved that over short-course 25m lengths, he has never done it in an Olympic 50m pool.
Today Le Clos will just want to look more threatening in the water in the opening round than countryman Cameron van der Burgh did in the heats of the 100m breaststroke on Saturday afternoon.
Meanwhile, Sunday’s rowing programme was cancelled because of strong winds that blasted dark clouds over the lagoon and the Copacabana beach.
The rowers on Saturday struggled on water made choppy by a wind that felt like a gentle breeze for those on the land; yesterday was a hurricane by comparison.
Before the cancellation, the SA coaches were attaching splash decks to the front of the four boats that would have been in action.
After the cancellation, the SA rowers were working off their anticipation on ergo machines.
"Us rowers are used to lactic acid, it turns us on," said Paul Jackson, the coach of the men’s four who mentored the lightweight four to gold at London 2012.
Jonty Smith, one of the four, left the makeshift gym to listen to Jackson’s comments, which he invariably finds both colourful
and entertaining.
"Initially my vision of going to the Olympics was flat water," said Smith, adding the rough conditions were the same for all crews.
The men’s and women’s lightweight double sculls and women’s pair were also due to race in rescheduled heats on Sunday.
The Rio wind will almost certainly play a role in the endgame when the finals come round later in the Games.
From the front or the tail, it’s fine. But a crosswind can hurt the rowers on the near side more so than the far side.
At the Sydney Olympics in 2000, a strong wind scuppered the dreams of SA medal contender Ruth Nortje in the women’s canoe sprint final.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Le Clos-Phelps blockbuster II
EVER since Chad l e Clos toppled Michael Phelps as the Olympic 200m butterfly king four years ago, he has wanted to achieve the mantle of greatness as well.
On Monday he embarks on realising that dream when he bids to defend the title he won as a young upstart at London 2012.
Le Clos will compete in the heats on Monday with the semifinals scheduled for late in the night (3.16am Tuesday SA time).
Only one man has successfully defended his Olympic crown in this event, and that was Phelps, the American legend and the most prolific medallist in Olympic history who returned to the pool after a two-year retirement following the last Games.
In that time Le Clos usurped Phelps’s 100m and 200m butterfly titles at the 2013 world championships, and the following year he was without peer in the fly at the Commonwealth Games.
But in 2015 veteran Hungarian Laszlo Cseh stunned Le Clos to take the 200m butterfly title.
The South African kept his 100m title, but in the US at the same time Phelps competed in a small gala and clocked the year’s fastest times in both races.
This year Cseh has thrown down the gauntlet with the year’s fastest times in both races, and his 1min 52.91sec in the 200m butterfly is the quickest since 2009.
And do not ignore the two highly ranked Japanese swimmers, Daiya Seto and Masato Sakai, who are part of their country’s programme to produce champions at the Tokyo Games in 2020.
Le Clos faces a horde of challengers in what could be the most competitive men’s swimming event of the Games.
And Le Clos will have to go faster than he has ever been before — his personal best remains his golden 1:52.96 from four years ago — to realise his goal of being a great butterfly swimmer.
He has spoken about world records in the past, and although he has achieved that over short-course 25m lengths, he has never done it in an Olympic 50m pool.
Today Le Clos will just want to look more threatening in the water in the opening round than countryman Cameron van der Burgh did in the heats of the 100m breaststroke on Saturday afternoon.
Meanwhile, Sunday’s rowing programme was cancelled because of strong winds that blasted dark clouds over the lagoon and the Copacabana beach.
The rowers on Saturday struggled on water made choppy by a wind that felt like a gentle breeze for those on the land; yesterday was a hurricane by comparison.
Before the cancellation, the SA coaches were attaching splash decks to the front of the four boats that would have been in action.
After the cancellation, the SA rowers were working off their anticipation on ergo machines.
"Us rowers are used to lactic acid, it turns us on," said Paul Jackson, the coach of the men’s four who mentored the lightweight four to gold at London 2012.
Jonty Smith, one of the four, left the makeshift gym to listen to Jackson’s comments, which he invariably finds both colourful
and entertaining.
"Initially my vision of going to the Olympics was flat water," said Smith, adding the rough conditions were the same for all crews.
The men’s and women’s lightweight double sculls and women’s pair were also due to race in rescheduled heats on Sunday.
The Rio wind will almost certainly play a role in the endgame when the finals come round later in the Games.
From the front or the tail, it’s fine. But a crosswind can hurt the rowers on the near side more so than the far side.
At the Sydney Olympics in 2000, a strong wind scuppered the dreams of SA medal contender Ruth Nortje in the women’s canoe sprint final.
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