Salamu
I have never been more proud to be a South African than I am at the moment. After the disappointments of Beijing I have been hoping and Praying for a better show at London 2012. And my prayers have been answered.
I am especially proud because I can officially say I have interviewed an Olympic Gold Medalist. I caught up with Chad le Clos last year before his Olympic glory. I have kept the interview in its original prose context and time because I want to show the humility of the boy. He is really top class.
Published: Weekend Witness November 2011
But he said that it was not always about the pool. He pointed out that when he was younger he was very focused on football.
“I really enjoyed football when I was in primary school. I was really keen on the sport and thought I could pursue that when I left school. I played in the country districts first team up until I sustained a really bad groin injury which put a halt to those plans,” he said.
When he was not on the football pitch, he was in the pool. And up until the age of 13 he was swimming purely for enjoyment with no thoughts of the competitive side of the sport.
“If was not for a family friend, who with my grandfather founded engineering firm Bearing Man, I would not be as focused as I am today swimming. Greg Till saw something in me and sponsored my dad and myself to go to England and participate in a number of meetings there,” he said.
After that, Le Clos said that he really started to see the belief that everyone had in him for himself.
After coming back from England, he joined up with his coach Graham Hill who has coached a number of top South African swimmers.
Le Clos attended Westville Boys High and concentrated solely on swimming from the age of 14 and dominated every age division he participated in before graduating last year.
Fresh out of high school, Le Clos was unsure how he would fair in the world of senior swimming.
While still at school he won two gold medals in last year’s Commonwealth Games in Delhi. And he recently dominated this year’s Fina World Cup where he won 23 gold medals, 10 silver medals, and two bronze medals. He also became the third South African to win the overall Fina World Cup Series championship title.
Le Clos initially went into the circuit hoping for a top three finish, but after the first few legs he knew the win was possible.
“When I started off in Dubai I was kind of hoping for a top three finish in the overall standings because I would be participating in all of the legs. After getting six gold medals in Dubai, I realised that I had the advantage,” he said.
He added that he certainly did not expect to beat Olympic greats Ian Thorpe and Michael Phelps on his way to winning the title. But he is humble about his victories, and with good reasons.
“Although I am still trying to come to terms with the fact that I beat Phelps and Thorpe, who I admired growing up, you can’t read too much into the fact that I beat them. Swimmers who are older pick and choose the events that they participate in and won’t swim in every World Cup meeting. And swimmers like Phelps and Thorpe save their best for big events like the World Championships and the Olympics. So I am expecting them to be my main competitors in June next year,” said Le Clos.
South Africa has a long tradition of producing world class swimmers, but Le Clos hopes that the new generation will be remembered for their own achievements rather than being compared to other swimmers.
“Hopefully South Africa will remember me for my own achievements. I am also aiming to achieve unique things. I feel that the future is bright, but I also do not know what it holds,” said Le Clos.
Le Clos added that anything short of a podium finish in London will be a disappointment for him. “Key for me ahead of the games is to stay healthy and focused. It is easy get caught up in all the hype and expectation around your performances and form. I do appreciate the support, but I need to stay focused and not let it get to me,” said Le Clos.
Helping him on this journey is his dad who Le Clos describes as his closest confidant.
“The support I have gotten from my dad is amazing. He is not only my agent, but he has been through a lot in his life and gives me a lot of advice about life outside of swimming,” said Le Clos.
He added that the two are at times inseparable as they go out a lot and spend a lot of time participating in social activities that any other teenager would do with his friends.
“I don’t have a lot of friends, and the ones that I do have come from swimming so they understand the sacrifices that I need to make on a day to day basis. It is very hard at times when I want to be a teenager, but I now have to be responsible and act in a mature manner,” he said.
He added that if he did not have the support of his family and coach, he would not have been able to cope with the roller coaster time that he has had over the past two years, and with the anticipation growing around him and possible Olympic glory, he feels that the ride is far from over.
Mei jua daima kuwa kabla yenu, na vivuli nyuma yako!
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| Beating his boyhood hero to gold is the achievement of two life long dreams for Le Clos. |
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