My Perfect Weekend
Chad Le Clos, Olympic swimming champion & Omega watch ambassador
How I spend my weekends is different depending on whether I’m with my family, friends or with a girlfriend. I’ll break it up for you into different scenarios.
Scenario 1: With family
Honestly, it’s a Sunday and if I’ve got nothing on, I will wake up late-ish and make a nice breakfast of crumpets or pancakes. Later in the day, after I’ve been relaxing all morning, I’ll invite my sister’s family and older brother to come over for a braai at my place in Cape Town.
Scenario 2: With friends
One of my favourite weekends was the time I took my mates to Joburg last year and we stayed in a penthouse suite at the Radisson Hotel in Sandton. On Friday night we went to clubs and had a good time with a few of our friends who live in Joburg.
On that Saturday morning
I woke up and went to watch a friend who is a fighter training for a couple of hours in the gym. I met some of my rugby player friends after that. Most of the day was spent doing active things — I like to spend part of my weekends doing something sport-related.
On that Saturday night
we went to watch our good friend Dricus du Plessis fight in the EFC (Extreme Fighting Championship). He won the second middleweight title. We celebrated with everybody and had a good time, which meant that Sunday had a bit of a slow start.
Some of my family live in Fourways.
They came to fetch me and we had a family lunch before I flew out in the evening. It’s always good to spend Sundays with family, especially after two nights of partying. It gives me a chance to relax.
On another weekend spent with mates
we might go for a steak dinner or have a poker tournament. Or, if it’s holiday season and we’re feeling extravagant, we’ll get on a plane and go to Las Vegas…
Scenario 3: If I had a girlfriend…
perhaps we would go to a place like Franschhoek, which is the ideal distance to take a short break away from the city. It’s about an hour from Cape Town and in the heart of the Cape winelands.
After waking up
we’d have a long, relaxing breakfast. I usually eat oats and I don’t eat eggs. But I would have tomatoes, hash browns, waffles. Sometimes I have a milkshake. My favourite flavour is chocolate and lime.
When we’d fuelled ourselves
for the morning we’d head outdoors for a walk or go wine tasting, though I’m not much of a drinker. It’s a beautiful place just to enjoy the scenery.
Though these are all good ways
to spend the weekend, perhaps the best thing for rest and relaxation is to go to the bush. I love going to places like Phinda, which is a private game reserve in KwaZulu-Natal. I’ll make sure that I’m up at 6:30am to go on a game drive. Then I’ll come back for a nice, big breakfast, which invariably leads to a lovely nap. In the afternoon, the best thing to do in the bush is go on yet another game drive, and head to dinner.
It’s quite a relief to spend a weekend with no training! ●