INSIDE CHAD’S NEW PAD

The swimming star has swopped Durbs for Cape Town. He invited us to check out his fabulous new home

PALE brown laminate flooring links the roomy interiors, and black-andwhite graphics of comic-book superhero Batman and a vintage camera adorn the walls of the luxury apartment in the art deco building in one of the Mother City’s most desirable suburbs. Remote-controlled blinds and curtains frame large windows that look out onto the Atlantic Ocean, and a flatscreen TV mounted onto a tastefully painted wall takes centre stage.

If it weren’t for the PlayStation under the enormous TV you could easily mistake this apartment in Sea Point, Cape Town, for an architect’s glitzy show home.

But the barefoot man who plonks his lean body down on the plush couch is as far from an architect as they come.

“Can I get you some coffee or tea?” asks Chad le Clos (25), the golden boy of swimming in South Africa.

“How about a little beer or wine?” a familiar voice pipes up breezily from the kitchen. It’s the unmistakeable voice of Chad’s dad, Bert (59), who became an online sensation in 2012 when he gleefully raved on live TV when Chad won the 200 m butterfly gold medal at the London Olympics.

Chad has been in his new flat for three weeks now and is showing it for the first time. For the past four months he’s been renting a flat nearby while the apartment was being given its makeover.

“I’m enjoying the independence,” Chad says. He lives here with his brother, Jordan, who finished high school last year. “He’s taking a gap year and is going to study physiotherapy next year at UCT [the University of Cape Town].”

Jordan’s in charge of making lunch and in the evenings it’s Chad’s turn to cook.

Bert and Chad’s mom, Geraldine (53), are still based in Durban. Luckily just a two-hour flight separates them from their boys who’ve built a guest room for them so they can visit, Chad says.

His large en-suite bedroom in the roughly 180-m² apartment is decorated in stark grey and blue. Adjoining it is a small lounge, also with a TV. “This place has five TVs,” Bert says with a laugh.

“I like playing PlayStation – it’s part of how I relax,” Chad responds with a grin.

In the kitchen Bert, who’s at least 30 kg lighter these days, is doing his thing while Geraldine looks on. Chad admits he’s going to miss his dad’s cooking.

Shortly before Chad left for the Olympic Games in Rio in August last year the family revealed Bert and Geraldine were fighting prostate and breast cancer respectively.

Then, when Chad failed to win gold in Rio, the Le Clos clan were at an all-time low (YOU, 22 September).

But things have perked up considerably since then. “We’re doing well,” Bert says. “Geraldine is looking fantastic and we’re healthy. In life it’s like poker – this is the hand you’ve been dealt.

“Don’t start crying; just try and go forward.”

CHAD is indeed moving forward. His swimming career is on course again since he hooked up with his new head coach, Italian Andrea di Nino. “We identified a lot of key weaknesses in my training and did video analysis,” he says.

At a swimming event in April, Chad clocked the fastest times recorded this year in the 100 m and 200 m butterfly and he’s preparing for the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, in July.

“I train from 9 am to 11.30 am in the mornings and 4 pm to 6.30 pm in the evenings. I also work out at the gym three times a week.”

Although the Rio Olympics was a setback, it was also the place where something special happened.

“My daughter [Bianca Matos] and her husband conceived a baby there,” Bert says proudly, cooing over the pictures of the 10-day-old on his cellphone. “It was totally unplanned. And guess what they called her? Rio!”

Sadly for Chad there’s no time to get too comfortable in his new digs. He’ll be leaving Cape Town soon for an intensive training camp in Turkey in prepara- tion for the World Championships.

“It’s a difficult few weeks ahead,” he says. “People think it’s fun and games. But I must admit I’m not looking forward to travelling there too much, especially since I just got the new apartment.”

Chad often goes overseas to make use of better training facilities. But his dream is to have top-class facilities on home soil. That’s why he announced in November that he was opening his own swimming academy in Cape Town.

South African swimming talent is often wasted because we don’t have the right facilities, he says. “We’re hoping to open up in September but we need sponsors.” The CLC Academy will be situated at Jan Van Riebeeck High School and Chad hopes to also establish a feeder school through which young talent can be developed.

“If I had the money I’d build a high-performance centre with a 50-m pool and water polo facility, synchronised swimming facilities and facilities for diving.”

‘I dislike travelling. I get bad motion sickness so I like to be close to everything’

He’s quiet for a moment. “The Chad Le Clos High Performance Centre for Swimming,” he adds. “That would be cool.”

The high school is excited that Chad chose it for this project. “The father of a former learner at the school who swims with Chad, Danie Marais, contacted the school with the idea,” says André Franken, the principal.

“When I heard it I couldn’t believe my ears. We were very excited and immediately approached the governing body with the idea. It will be a huge boost for local swimming.”

APHOTO of the triumphant moment at the London Games in 2012 when Chad snatched the gold medal from his hero, American Michael Phelps, hangs in his bedroom.

Did he put it there? He’s the first to say he didn’t do much of the decorating in the apartment. “I’m lucky my uncle is a project manager and has his own business. His son is very creative so he did all the finishes.

“I was like, ‘Here, sweetie. Here’s the credit card. Enjoy and make it look good’,” he says with a grin. “I had to leave for nine weeks and when I came back and found this I was surprised and very happy.”

Chad searched for a long time before finding the right apartment. “I wanted big rooms and a view,” he says.

“I like Sea Point – the fact that everything is so close by. My gym is half a kilometre from here. I dislike travelling. I get bad motion sickness so I like to be close to everything.”

Will anyone special be moving in sometime soon? No, Chad says. He doesn’t have a girlfriend. He pauses, then says, “I need to focus on the world champs in Budapest because I have some unfinished business. But once I’m back, maybe we’ll see and things will be different.”

He grins, the dimples that send fans into a flurry on full display.

When he’s not practising he’s hanging out with friends, just like any young twentysomething guy.

“Cape Town people are really nice. I wasn’t sure whether I’d be accepted here. Sometimes I go out and people just walk up to me and shake my hand and say ‘respect’ or, ‘Thanks for what you’re doing for the country’.

“I don’t take that for granted. I really appreciate it.”

Catch more of Chad’s new home on Top Billing on SABC3, Thursday 1 June at 8.30 pm.

GALLO IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES Olympic swimmer Chad le Clos is training hard to win gold medals for his country.

ABOVE: The living room opens onto the kitchen and its superb view of Sea Point and the ocean. Chad chose most of the furniture himself but had help with the décor. LEFT: A photo of his 2012 Olympic triumph adorns his bedroom wall.

Chad built a guest room onto his new apartment so parents Geraldine and Bert can visit often. They live in Durban.

TOP and ABOVE: Chad’s bedroom has an en-suite bathroom and two televisions. A cosy lounge area was created next to the large bedroom window so Chad can appreciate the view. He looked long and hard for an apartment with a view and large rooms, he tells...

Chad says he’s going to miss dad Bert’s cooking. His parents help out a lot when they visit, he adds.

INSTAGRAM LEFT: Chad’s sister, Bianca, and her husband, Pedro Matos, conceived a baby during the Rio Olympics, whom they named Rio. BELOW: Chad with his parents and younger brother, Jordan, who lives with him.