After success in Glasgow, SA’s swimmers fancy their chances in Rio
GLASGOW: And so to Rio. The South African swimmers left Glasgow yesterday, bound for home, their eyes and heads cast two years hence to the 2016 Olympics in Brazil. They left here with 12 medals from six days of competition, seven of them involving Chad le Clos as an individual or relay team member.
Graham Hill, the head coach and the man in charge of planning for Rio, puffed his cheeks out yesterday when asked how many medals South Africa could win in 2016.
“I’m going to stick my neck out and say we’ll get four or five medals in Rio,” said Hill.
“There’s some work to do between now and then.”
Le Clos is expected to be the source of at least half of Hill’s prediction, and Cameron van der Burgh, who has said he has rekindled his passion for the sport after a period of existential angst, could be a very good bet for a few of the others.
The relays are a work in progress and the reserve swimmers, who Hill, a fan of the Tour de France, called the “domestiques”, need to improve in order for them to get the stronger swimmers to the finals.
Le Clos, who wanted to try for nine medals in Glasgow, was not sure about a medal count in Rio, but said he fancied his chances of more than the two he won in London.
“It’s hard to say now,” he said.
“We’ve spoken about it so many times. I want to go there and win the 100m and 200m butterfly, that’s no secret.
“I want to challenge Phelps’s world records. Those are my goals for Rio, I can tell you that now.
“As for other races, I’m not too sure. This year was a hard year to judge because of everything that happened. Next year I’ll have a better idea of what I want to swim.
“I see more than two medals. The relays would be there. I want double gold in the 100m and 200m fly. I don’t want to be unrealistic and say I want to win seven or eight medals. At the same time, there is a lot to improve on by then. I can’t really say now.”
Le Clos was not at full fitness coming into Glasgow, having caught the flu when the team trained and raced in Europe before the Games. He looked a different class in the 100m and 200m butterfly, but ran out of puff near the end of the longer races.
“I did a personal best in the 50m fly, and I was pretty pumped. I died a bit in the last 50m of the 4x200m. I knew I could only do three 200s, the relay, 200m fly and 200m medley.
“Hats off to Graham, he really picked those races well. If it had been up to me, I would have tried to swim the 400m IM and I would have thought I could have won, but realistically I don’t think I would have had a chance to medal in that race. The 200s were really hard for me.”
Le Clos likes the 400m individual medley because he says it is, more than the blueriband 100m freestyle, the true test to find the best all-round swimmer in the world. There is every chance it will be on his schedule come Rio.
“To win the 400m IM is bigger than the 100m free for me. It’s the coolest race. It’s the best all-round swimmer in the world. The 100m free is nowhere near as hard as the 200m fly.
“The cool part about it is that a lot of people don’t know what races I will swim.
“In a way I can be a bit unpredictable by swimming the 100m free and going 48.5sec. Just to throw a few spanners in the works, there. It’s part of my plan. My master plan.”
The two years since London 2012 have been the best and worst of times for Le Clos. He has gone from the bright young man with stars in his eyes and hero worship for Michael Phelps, to becoming the next Phelps and the best swimmer in the world.
It is a mantle that sits easily with him, although it is not one he talks about.
This week he has spoken about his teammates, about the joy he has taken from their performances as much as his own. He came to Glasgow not at full fitness, but as a wiser and more confident swimmer than before. There is much, much more to come.
“I’m a better swimmer than I was at the Olympics,” said Le Clos.
“I don’t think I was as fit as I was in London. By next year July I’ll be fitter than I was in London.”