Sates, Le Clos going for broke in Berlin

Chad le Clos and Matthew Sates will compete across 11 events at the first gala of the World Cup series in Berlin this weekend, but they are scheduled to go head-to-head in only one — the 200m freestyle on Sunday.

Sates, 19, is looking to defend his title of top overall male swimmer from last year, a feat 30-year-old Le Clos has achieved on four occasions, in 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2017.

Le Clos is entered in six events — the three butterfly and three freestyle races — and Sates will take part in five, namely the three individual medley contests and the 200m and 400m freestyle.

First up is Sates in the 400m freestyle, followed by Le Clos in the 100m butterfly and 50m freestyle before Sates takes part in the 100m individual medley.

On Saturday Sates’s only focus will be the 200m IM, but Le Clos might have to choose between the 100m freestyle and 200m butterfly, the finals of which are 13 minutes apart.

On Sunday, Sates competes in the 400m IM, a timed final, while Le Clos is scheduled to race the 50m butterfly.

Their 200m freestyle showdown on Sunday is the final men’s race of the gala.

The World Cup series is a short-course competition, raced in 25-metre pools where both Sates and Le Clos have done well because of their quick turns and lightning underwater work.

Le Clos has been training under a new coach since the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, having switched to German Dirk Lange, who mentored Cameron van der Burgh to Olympic gold at London 2012.

Le Clos’s training was previously based on heavy workloads, while Lange employs a different philosophy.

There will be 14 other SA swimmers in action in Berlin, including veteran Commonwealth Games medallists Ryan Coetzee (50m and 100m freestyle and butterfly), Clayton Jimmie (50m freestyle, backstroke and butterfly; 100m freestyle and butterfly) and Emily Visagie (50m-200m breaststroke; 100m and 200m IM; 100m butterfly and 200m freestyle).