Chad Le Clos (RSA) (Photo: SPH-Syogoc/Mugilan Rajasegeran)

By: Benjamin Liew

At 18 years old, Chad Le Clos, the swimming sensation from South Africa is already looking to be the next Michael Phelps.

Le Clos, who holds 2 senior All – Africa Games and a 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG) swimming records, is one of the most recognised and decorated athletes at the world’s first Youth Olympic Games (YOG).

Born on April 12, 1992 in Kwa Zulu – Natal province, South Africa, he is the only real waterbaby in the Le Clos family of 4, whose true passion lies in football.

In an interview with Get It, a community magazine based in his hometown, Le Clos admitted that having to choose between football and swimming was one of the hardest decisions he has had to make.

“I started swimming at 9, but I played soccer too…as time progressed, I knew I had to sacrifice one sport in order to give it my all in the other.”

Since then, the ardent Manchester United fan has never looked back.

Talent scouted while still in primary school, his first taste of international competition was at a championship meet in England. Since then, Chad has found himself on the winner’s podium countless times, including the 2008 CYG, where he bagged himself 2 gold medals and set a new record that still stands.

His dazzling performance has continued at the YOG, as he bagged medal honours in all of his individual swimming events, including a bronze medal in the Youth Men’s 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay Final, bringing his total medal tally to 5 out of a possible 6 medal events.

His perfect streak was broken in the Youth Men’s 4 x 100m Medley Relay Final, in which South Africa finished a distant sixth out of 8 competing countries, nearly 5 seconds behind first – placed Australia.

In an interview after winning his second medal in the Youth Men’s 200m Individual Medley Final event, he said, “It feels great. My family and my mom came out to watch and there were a lot of South Africans out there…to win in front of them, you couldn’t have asked for a more perfect night.”

It was his first gold medal at the YOG, having won a silver medal the previous day in the Youth Men’s 400m Freestyle Final.

Despite having competed in many international swimming competitions, Le Clos claims that he felt the most pressure competing in the YOG. He said, “I’ve competed in other international competitions but for me, this has been the most pressured…the most scary.”

Stress notwithstanding, the experience at the YOG also imparted invaluable lessons to him. He added that, “It’s taught me so much on how to deal with the press, the nerves…competing against the best under-18s in the world…and heading into London (where the next Olympic Games will be held come 2012), which is just around the corner. This is a huge stepping stone for me and my preparations and it helped me to move forward.”

Besides the pressures and the lessons learnt at the YOG, Le Clos also revealed the secret to his winning streak; a lucky charm, or more specifically, a lucky pair of orange swimming trunks. He said, “I have an orange costume which I wear for my final sessions and I’ve (worn) it every time for the past year and so far it’s been working pretty well. And I wore it tonight…” before trailing off in chuckles.

Grinning cheekily as he left, his parting words were, “I’ll wear it (his lucky swimming trunks) tomorrow night, hopefully.”