Veteran’s advice could have cost Le Clos his Olympic gold
IF Chad le Clos had listened to advice from a former national swimming champion given 12 years ago, he would never have won an Olympic gold medal.
And he would never have beaten US superstar Michael Phelps in the pool.
The advice was to give up butterfly, the event in which he beat Phelps at the 2012 London Games.
In a new book, Le Clos reveals that he is glad he did not listen to the ex-champ, who was a bit older and once told him at a coaching session: “Chad, it would be better if you did not swim the butterfly. You are not swimming it correctly, so I think it’s best that you give up butterfly.”
Ten years later came the sensational victory over Phelps, along with the gold medal.
The book, Unbelievable!, is due out next month. It takes its title from a TV interview given by Bert le Clos, Chad’s father, that went viral.
The book also tells how Le Clos carefully planned Phelps’s defeat.
Myan Subrayan, who has co- authored biographies of Springbok rugby player Pierre Spies and All Black Inga Tuigamala, spent much time with the Le Clos family before writing the book.
“This book will encourage and motivate you to pursue your dreams and never give up on them,” said Subrayan.
Before the 200m butterfly final in London, the parting words to Le Clos from coach Graham Hill were: “This is the last time you will ever get to race Michael Phelps in the 200m butterfly. If you want to beat him, you have to beat him tonight.”
“I was ready. Bring it on,” said Le Clos.
He recalls how he dug deep over the last 50m, looked at Phelps underwater and realised he was up against his hero.
“I began saying to myself: ‘I’m actually catching Michael. Wow, I’m doing it,’ ” said Le Clos.
He used his legs and hips like a dolphin, he said, gaining more power and speed.
“The last 20m felt like ages,” he said. “My final touch had to be perfectly timed. Coming into the last three strokes, Michael may have thought he had already won, but I executed my final touch with perfection and finished at full speed, stretching for the wall. I think I still have a bump on that middle finger from hitting the wall so hard.”
There was also trauma before the triumph. Two years before London, Le Clos’s mother, Geraldine, was diagnosed with breast cancer.
“You can imagine how gutted I was,” he said. “I wanted to remain positive in the hope that she would overcome it, so I held on to the good news that the cancer was in the early stages and the chances of her beating it were higher.”
Le Clos is now an ambassador for the Cancer Association of South Africa.
At a World Cup gala in Stockholm in 2011, he swam in a pink cap and swimsuit to show support for his mother and other cancer survivors.