Chad Guy Bertrand le Clos, OIS (born 12 April 1992) is a South African competitive

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

who is an Olympic, World and

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

champion. He is the African record, Commonwealth record, and South African record holder in the short course and

long course An Olympic-size swimming pool is a swimming pool which conforms to the regulations for length, breadth, and depth made by World Aquatics (formerly FINA) for swimming at the Summer Olympics and the swimming events at the World Aquatics Champion ...

200-metre butterfly and the short course 100-metre butterfly. He also holds African and South African records in the long course 200-metre freestyle and 100-metre butterfly, as well as the short course 100-metre freestyle. Formerly, he was a

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

holder in the short course 100-metre butterfly and 200-metre butterfly. At the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, he won a gold medal in the 200-metre butterfly and a silver medal in the 100-metre butterfly, as well as silver medals in the 200-metre freestyle and 100-metre butterfly at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

. He won five total medals at the

2010 Summer Youth Olympics The 2010 Summer Youth Olympics, ) officially known as the I Summer Youth Olympic Games, and commonly known as Singapore 2010, were the inaugural edition of the Youth Olympic Games (YOG), an Olympic Games-based event for young athletes. Held ...

. Le Clos has won the Swimming World Cup overall male winner title four times:

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, and

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

. Across the

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

and

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, he has won a total of 18 medals, including seven gold medals, four silver medals, and seven bronze medals. He has won a total of 19 medals, 12 gold medals, 5 silver medals, and 2 bronze medals, in individual events at Short Course World Championships. At the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games (), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014 (; ), were an international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Commonwealth Games as governed by the Commonwea ...

, he tied the record set by

Ian Thorpe Ian James Thorpe (born 13 October 1982) is an Australian retired swimmer who specialised in freestyle swimming, freestyle, but also competed in backstroke and the medley swimming, individual medley. He has won five Olympic gold medals, the se ...

for the most number of medals won at a single Commonwealth Games with seven medals. He became

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

's most decorated Olympian when he won his fourth Olympic medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics. In 2017, he became the first male to win the overall title in the Swimming World Cup four times. Upon his completion of the 2018 Swimming World Cup, he won the

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

for "most gold medals won in the FINA Swimming World Cup by a male swimmer" for the 143 gold medals he won between 2009 and 2018, inclusive. In the same year, he became the most decorated Commonwealth Games swimmer, with 17 total medals, and the first man to win the Commonwealth Games title in the 200-metre butterfly three times in a row. At the

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England betw ...

, he became the third person to win 18 medals at the Commonwealth Games and tied for the title of the most decorated competitor.

Background

Le Clos's father Bert Le Clos is

Mauritian Mauritians (singular Mauritian; ; Creole: ''Morisien'') are nationals or natives of the Republic of Mauritius and their descendants. Mauritius is a melting pot of multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-religious peoples. Mauritian is made up ...

, and moved to

at the age of nine, where he met Le Clos's mother, Geraldine, who is of South African descent.However, Chad's third name, Bertrand, as well as his family name, come from the Celtic region of France called Bretagne, where many indigenous people have a family name starting with either "Le" or "Ar". On top of that, Le Clos is a common family name amongst the natives of Bretagne. It's uncertain who brought this family name to South Africa. He attended Westville Boys' High School in

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

, South Africa, the school named their main pool after him, matriculating in 2010. He started competing when he was ten years old, after first joining a local swim club based in Durban, named the Seagulls Swimming Club when he was eight years old."Chad le Clos: Profile"
''

FINA World Aquatics, formerly known as FINA (; ), is the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administering international competitions in List of water sports, water sports. It is one of several interna ...

''. Retrieved 12 April 2022. He has a younger brother, Jordan, who is also a competitive swimmer.Nxumalo, Mphathi (11 April 2014)
"Chad wins battle of Le Clos boys"
''

Independent Online ''Independent Online'', popularly known as ''IOL'', is a news website based in South Africa that serves the online versions of a number of South African newspapers, including '' The Star'', '' Cape Times'', '' Cape Argus'', ''Weekend Argus'', '' ...

''. Retrieved 13 April 2022.

2010–2011

2010 Commonwealth Games

At the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth that was held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 201 ...

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

in October, Le Clos collected two gold medals, one silver medal, and two bronze medals. On the first day of the swimming competition, he won the gold medal and Commonwealth title in the 200-metre butterfly with a Games record time of 1:56.48."South African Le Clos salutes in 200m fly"
'' ABC''. 4 October 2010. Retrieved 12 April 2022. His medal was the first medal for South Africa at the 2010 Commonwealth Games as well as his first medal at a Commonwealth Games."South Africa's Le Clos wins 200m fly gold"
''

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media Limited, an entity controlled by the Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia, the daughter o ...

''. 4 October 2010. Retrieved 12 April 2022. The same day, he contributed a split of 50.15 seconds for the third leg of the 4×100-metre freestyle relay in the preliminary heats and won a bronze medal when the finals relay placed third in 3:15.21."Chad le Clos: Medals"
''

''. Retrieved 12 April 2022. Two days later, as part of the 4×200-metre freestyle relay, Le Clos won his third medal, a bronze medal, helping achieve a third-place finish in the final with a 7:14.18 after helping qualify the relay to the final in the preliminary heats. The fourth day, he placed 17th in the preliminary heats of the 100-metre butterfly with a time of 56.56 seconds."Athletes & Results: Swimming 100m Butterfly - Men Delhi 2010"
''

Commonwealth Games Federation The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), currently known as Commonwealth Sport, is the international organisation responsible for the direction and control of the Commonwealth Games and Commonwealth Youth Games, and is the governing body ...

''. Retrieved 12 April 2022. Later in the day, he won his second gold medal and Commonwealth title of the Games, this time in the 400-metre individual medley, where he set a new Games record with his time of 4:13.25.Fish, Julia (8 October 2010)
"Another golden day in Delhi"
''

TimesLIVE ''TimesLIVE'' ( aka ''TshisaLIVE'') is a South African online newspaper that started as ''The Times'' daily newspaper. ''The Times'' print version was an offshoot of ''Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper who ...

''. Retrieved 12 April 2022."SA's Games medal tally climbs"
'' News24''. 7 October 2010. Retrieved 12 April 2022. On day five, he placed fifth in the final of the 200-metre individual medley with a time of 2:00.74."Athletes & Results: Swimming 200m Individual Medley - Men Delhi 2010"
''

''. Retrieved 12 April 2022. For his final event, the 4×100-metre medley relay, he split a 52.98 for the butterfly leg of the relay in the final to help win the silver medal in a time of 3:36.12.

2010 Short Course World Championships

At the World Short Course Championships in Dubai, Le Clos won the gold medal in the 200-metre butterfly. He narrowly beat South African Dekota Morris by 0.05 of a second and South African Donovan Marais, the 2008 Olympic silver medalist, by 0.11 of a second.

2011 Long Course World Championships

At the

2011 World Aquatics Championships The 14th FINA World Aquatics Championships, FINA World Championships () were held on 16–31 July 2011 in Shanghai, Shanghai, China at the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center. The 2011 World Championships featured five aquatics disciplines: swimming ...

in Shanghai, he finished fifth in the 200-metre butterfly, 13th in the 100-metre butterfly and 10th in the 4 × 100 m medley relay with his teammates.

2012–2013

2012 Summer Olympics

On the first day of the

in London, Le Clos finished fifth in the 400m individual medley. On the 4th day, Le Clos won the gold medal in the 200m butterfly in 1min 52.96 sec, edging out the two-time defending Olympic champion and world record holder,

Michael Phelps Michael Fred Phelps II (born June 30, 1985) is an American former competitive swimmer. He is the most successful and most decorated Olympian of all time with a total of 28 medals. Phelps also holds the all-time records for Olympic gold me ...

, by 0.05 seconds. In personal information given to the media, Le Clos had stated before the games that his sporting hero is Michael Phelps. He later said that beating his hero was unexpected. The next day Le Clos qualified for the final of the 200m individual medley by swimming the (tied) 7th time in the semi-finals, but he withdrew to focus on the 100m butterfly. On the 7th day of the competition, Le Clos won the silver medal in the 100m butterfly, tied with Yevgeny Korotyshkin in a time of 51.44 sec, at 0.23 sec behind Phelps. During the 2012 Games, Le Clos' father, Bert le Clos, became an instant media personality after being interviewed on British television about his son's achievement in winning a gold medal.

2013 Long Course World Championships

After his Olympic success, Le Clos came into the World Championships as a threat. However, Le Clos shortened his program this year, only deciding to participate in the butterfly events. In his first event, the 50-metre butterfly, Le Clos came 23rd with a time of 23.76, unable to advance to the semi-finals. In his signature event, the 200-metre butterfly, after easily breezing into the final, he followed his win at the Olympics, where he won with a 1:54.32. He finished off his schedule by winning the 100-metre fly with a new national record of 51.06, ending the championships on a good note.

2013 Swimming World Cup

At the 2013 Swimming World Cup stop in

Eindhoven Eindhoven ( ; ) is a city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, located in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant, of which it is the largest municipality, and is also locat ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

in August 2013, Le Clos broke the short course 200 metre butterfly

of 1:49.11, set by Kaio de Almeida of

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

in 2009, in the final 200 metre butterfly with a time of 1:49.04, which also earned him a World Cup record and the gold medal in the event.

(7 August 2013)
"FINA Swimming World Cup 2013 Eindhoven: Men's 200m Butterfly Final Results"
'' Omega Timing''. Retrieved 14 January 2022."Chad eyes title, world record"
'' News24''. 11 October 2013. Retrieved 14 January 2022."Chad Le Clos Breaks 1:49 Barrier in 200 Fly World Record"
''

Swimming World } ''Swimming World'' is a US-based quarterly swimming magazine that was first published in a magazine format as ''Junior Swimmer'' in January 1960. It concurrently runs online websites ''Swimming World Magazine'' and ''Swimming World News'' (kn ...

''. 5 November 2013. Retrieved 14 January 2022. Later in the World Cup circuit, Le Clos broke the 200 metre butterfly world record a second time, this time breaking his own world record and World Cup record with a time of 1:48.56 at the stop in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, Singapore in November, making him the first swimmer to finish the event in less than 1:49.00.

(5 November 2013)
"FINA Swimming World Cup 2013 Singapore: Men's 200m Butterfly Final Results"
'' Omega Timing''. Retrieved 14 January 2022.

2014–2015

2014 Commonwealth Games

In July 2014, at the

, held at

Tollcross International Swimming Centre The Tollcross International Swimming Centre is a swimming pool and leisure centre in Glasgow. It hosted the Swimming (sport), Swimming events at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, and will host it once more in 2026 Commonwealth Games, 2026. The centre ...

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, Le Clos won seven total medals, including two gold medals, one silver medal, and four bronze medals. His seven medals tied the record for the most number of medals won in a single

set by Australian

in 2002."Chad le Clos stars at Commonwealth Games with record 7 medals"
'' News24''. 30 July 2014. Retrieved 12 April 2022. With his 12 total medals from the 2010 and 2014 Commonwealth Games, Le Clos tied Roland Schoeman for being South Africa's most decorated Commonwealth Games swimmer."Le Clos Joins Exclusive Club"
''Mossel Bay Advertiser''. 31 July 2014. Retrieved 13 April 2022. On the second day of swimming competition, in his first event of the Games, the 50-metre butterfly, Le Clos won the bronze medal in the final with a time of 23.36 seconds, finishing behind gold medalist Ben Proud of

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and silver medalist and fellow South African Roland Schoeman."Glasgow 2014 XX Commonwealth Games: Swimming Men's 50m Butterfly Final"
''

''. 25 July 2014. Retrieved 13 April 2022. He won a silver medal later in the same session, leading off the 4×100-metre freestyle relay with a 48.53 to contribute to the final time of 3:15.17."Glasgow 2014 XX Commonwealth Games: Swimming Men's 4x100m Freestyle Relay Final"
''

''. 25 July 2014. Retrieved 13 April 2022. The following day, he won a gold medal in the 200-metre butterfly with a new Games record time of 1:55.07, lowering the record he set in the event in 2010 by over one full second.Sapa (27 July 2014)
"Three golds for SA team in Glasgow"
''

Mail & Guardian The ''Mail & Guardian'', formerly the ''Weekly Mail'', is a South African weekly newspaper and website, published by M&G Media in Johannesburg, South Africa. It focuses on political analysis, investigative reporting, Southern African news, loca ...

''. Retrieved 13 April 2022.Wong, Adelene (27 July 2014)
"Mixed fortunes for Singapore swimming pair"
''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * The current day and calendar date ** Today is between and , subject to the local time zone * Now, the time that is perceived directly, present * The current, present era Arts, entertainment and m ...

''. Retrieved 13 April 2022.Lee, David (28 July 2014)
"Schooling finished last in 200m fly final because of cramps"
''

The Straits Times ''The Straits Times'' (also known informally by its abbreviation ''ST'') is a Singaporean daily English-language newspaper owned by the SPH Media Trust. Established on 15 July 1845, it is the most-widely circulated newspaper in the country and ...

''. Retrieved 13 April 2022. On The fourth day, he won a bronze medal as part of the 4×200-metre freestyle relay, helping achieve a mark of 7:10.36 in the final by splitting a 1:47.13 for the second leg of the relay."Glasgow 2014 XX Commonwealth Games: Swimming Men's 4x200m Freestyle Relay Final"
. ''

''. 27 July 2014. Retrieved 13 April 2022. In the final of the 100-metre butterfly the following day, Le Clos won the gold medal with a Games record time of 51.29 seconds, finishing 0.40 seconds ahead of silver medalist in the event Joseph Schooling of

."Glasgow 2014 XX Commonwealth Games: Swimming Men's 100m Butterfly Final"
''

''. 28 July 2014. Retrieved 13 April 2022.Canning, Kieran (28 July 2014)
"Le Clos scoops another gold"
''

''. Retrieved 13 April 2022.

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

(28 July 2014)
"Injury could have ruined my race for title, says le Clos"
''

The Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932 by P. Varadarajulu Naidu. It is headquartered in Noida, owned by the ''Indian Express Group''. It was later taken over by Ramnath Goenka. In 1999, eight y ...

''. Retrieved 13 April 2022."Le Clos caps off golden night"
'' News24''. 28 July 2014. Retrieved 13 April 2022.Meng, Wang Meng (29 July 2014)
"Commonwealth Games: Schooling wins Singapore's first swimming medal, clinching silver in 100m butterfly final"
''

''. Retrieved 13 April 2022. On the sixth and final day, he won his sixth medal in his sixth event, winning the bronze medal in the 200-metre individual medley with a time of 1:58.85."Glasgow 2014 XX Commonwealth Games: Swimming Men's 200m Individual Medley Final"
''

''. 29 July 2014. Retrieved 13 April 2022. In his seventh and final event, 4×100-metre medley relay, Le Clos swam the 100-metre butterfly portion of the relay in 51.05 seconds to help win the bronze medal and achieve a time of 3:34.47 in the final with relay teammates Sebastien Rousseau (backstroke), Cameron van der Burgh (breaststroke), and Leith Shankland (freestyle)."Glasgow 2014 XX Commonwealth Games: Swimming Men's 4x100m Medley Relay Final"
. ''

''. 29 July 2014. Retrieved 13 April 2022.

2014 Short Course World Championships

Le Clos won four gold medals out of a possible four gold medals in his individual events at the 2014 World Short Course Swimming Championships in

Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

in December, which included winning the 50-metre butterfly, 100-metre butterfly, 200-metre butterfly, and 200-metre freestyle.

(7 December 2014)
"12th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Doha (QAT): Complete Results Book"
'' Omega Timing''. Retrieved 12 April 2022. His winning time of 48.44 seconds in the 100-metre butterfly set a new

and a new Championships record.

(4 December 2014)
"12th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Doha (QAT): Men's 100m Butterfly Final Results"
'' Omega Timing''. Retrieved 14 January 2022.Brien, Taylor (8 December 2016)
"Chad le Clos Flies to 100 Fly SCM World Record"
''

''. Retrieved 14 January 2022.Sutherland, James (9 December 2016)
"Chad Le Clos Shatters 100 Fly World Record In 48.08"
''

SwimSwam ''SwimSwam'' is a swimming news organization covering competitive swimming along with diving, water polo and synchronized swimming. SwimSwam launched as a website in March 2012. History The news organization was founded by Braden Keith, Garrett ...

''. Retrieved 14 January 2022.

2015 Long Course World Championships

Le Clos finished 14th in the semifinals of the 50 meter butterfly and 6th in the 200m freestyle. He finished second in the 200m butterfly, at 0.2 seconds behind László Cseh. He successfully defended his 2013 title in the 100m butterfly by winning the gold medal in a personal best time of 50.56."Chad le Clos: Results"
''

''. Retrieved 12 April 2022. Le Clos and Michael Phelps, who was swimming at the US national championships at the same time and posted slightly faster times in the 100 and 200m butterfly events, exchanged comments about each other's times, which set up a rivalry for the 2016 Olympics.

2016

2016 Summer Olympics

Le Clos won the silver medal in the 200 metre freestyle event, finishing behind China's Sun Yang in a time of 1:45.20 to become one of South Africa's most decorated Olympians. The medal itself was quite a surprise for many, as Le Clos, primarily known as a butterfly specialist, had to overcome placement in one of the outside lanes and the presence of far more established freestylers in the field, such as the world record holder Paul Biedermann, reigning world champion James Guy, and the eventual bronze medalist Conor Dwyer. Le Clos finished 4th in the 200 metre butterfly in which he was the defending champion, in a race he called the worst of his career, as he was second behind Phelps for much of the race before fading in the closing meters. The event was heavily hyped as a rematch between Le Clos and

, the 2004 and 2008 winner whom Le Clos had narrowly beaten in 2012. The relationship between Le Clos and Phelps had been cordial in 2012–2013, but it deteriorated in 2014 when Phelps came back from retirement. In the ready room before the preliminary race, Le Clos'

shadow boxing Shadowboxing is a combat sport exercise in which a person throws punches at the air as though there is an opponent. Practised primarily in boxing, it is used mainly to prepare the muscles before the person training engages in stronger physical ...

while Phelps "glowered in a corner" spawned the Internet meme with the hashtag #PhelpsFace. Le Clos' Wikipedia biography was even vandalized repeatedly. Le Clos won a second silver medal in the 100 metre butterfly, in a three-way tie with rivals Phelps and László Cseh, behind Joseph Schooling. He said in the aftermath of the event to have been very disappointed with his overall showing in Rio but already had firm plans on continuing until the 2020 Games in Tokyo. Despite not being satisfied with his Rio showing, he still became South Africa's most decorated Olympian ever with four medals – one gold, three silver."SA's most decorated Olympian back on home soil"
''

eNCA eNCA, also known as eNews Channel Africa, is a 24-hour television news broadcaster owned by e.tv that focuses on African stories and events. Launched in June 2008, the channel is South Africa's first and most-watched 24-hour news service. Th ...

''. 19 August 2016. Retrieved 12 April 2022. Since the Rio Olympics, Le Clos has repeatedly demanded that his silver medal in 200-meter freestyle swimming be upgraded to gold because of Sun Yang's previous anti-doping violation.

2016 Short Course World Championships

At the 2016 World Short Course Championships in Windsor,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

in December, Le Clos broke his world and Championships records in the final of the 100 metre butterfly with a 48.08 to win the gold medal.

(8 December 2016)
"13th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Windsor (CAN): Men's 100m Butterfly Final Results"
'' Omega Timing''. Retrieved 14 January 2022. Le Clos also won gold medals in the 50 metre butterfly with a time of 21.98 seconds and the 200 metre butterfly in 1:48.76, a silver medal in the 200 metre freestyle in 1:41.65, placed sixth in the 4×50 metre freestyle relay final at 1:25.61 and came in 30th in the 100 metre freestyle with a time of 48.31 seconds.

(11 December 2016)
"13th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Windsor (CAN): Complete Results Book"
'' Omega Timing''. Retrieved 14 January 2022.

2017–2018

2017 Long Course World Championships

He won another major title in the 200-metre butterfly, beating rival and home-country favourite László Cseh at the 2017 World Aquatic Swimming Championships.

2017 Swimming World Cup

Le Clos won the overall male title in the 2017 Swimming World Cup, marking his fourth time winning the title after doing so in 2011, 2013, and 2014, and became the first male swimmer to achieve the four-time overall winner feat.

2018 Commonwealth Games

At the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that was held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

in Gold Coast,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, Le Clos earned three gold medals in individual events, one silver medal in an individual event, and one bronze medal in a relay event.Stutchbury, Greg (9 April 2018)
"Three-up Le Clos, Van der Burgh lead South Africa as upsets dominate"
''

''. Retrieved 12 April 2022. By the end of the Games, his medal count (17 total medals from 2010 through 2018) made him the most decorated

swimmer, and he left just one medal shy of tying for the most decorated title across all sports, a title shared by sport shooter Phillips Adams of

and sport shooter Mick Gault of

.Lindeque, Brent (8 April 2018)
"Chad le Clos has smashed his own Commonwealth games record"
''goodthingsguy.com''. Retrieved 16 April 2022. Beginning his first finals session on the second day of swimming competition, Le Clos started a busy session by winning the gold medal in the 50-metre butterfly with a time of 23.37 seconds. Gold Coast 2018 (6 April 2018)
"Gold Coast 2018 XXI Commonwealth Games: Swimming Men's 50m Butterfly Final Results"
''

Longines Compagnie des Montres Longines, Francillon S.A., or simply Longines (), is a Swiss luxury watchmaker based in Saint-Imier, Switzerland. Founded by Agassiz family, Auguste Agassiz in 1832, the company has been a subsidiary of the Swiss The Swatch G ...

''. Retrieved 16 April 2022.Stutchbury, Greg (6 April 2018)
"Commonwealth Games: Le Clos bid for medal record falls short, this time"
''

''. Retrieved 16 April 2022. Gold Coast 2018 (6 April 2018)
"Le Clos sweeps to butterfly gold but history bid on ice"
''

France 24 France 24 ( in French) is a French state-owned publicly funded international news television network based in Paris. Its channels, broadcast in French, English, Arabic and Spanish, are aimed at the overseas market. Based in the Paris suburb ...

''. Retrieved 16 April 2022. For his second final of the session, he placed seventh in the 200-metre freestyle in 1:47.46, finishing less than two seconds behind gold medalist Kyle Chalmers of Australia. Gold Coast 2018 (6 April 2018)
"Gold Coast 2018 XXI Commonwealth Games: Swimming Men's 200m Freestyle Final Results"
. ''

''. Retrieved 16 April 2022. In his third and final event of the session, he helped the 4×100-metre freestyle relay place sixth in 3:17.27, splitting a 47.97 for the second leg of the relay. Gold Coast 2018 (6 April 2018)
"Gold Coast 2018 XXI Commonwealth Games: Swimming Men's 4x100m Freestyle Final Results"
. ''

''. Retrieved 16 April 2022. The following day, he won his third consecutive Commonwealth Games title and gold medal in the 200-metre butterfly, setting a new Games record with his winning time of 1:54.00. Gold Coast 2018 (7 April 2018)
"Gold Coast 2018 XXI Commonwealth Games: Swimming Men's 200m Butterfly Final Results"
''

''. Retrieved 16 April 2022."Golden boy Chad shatters 200m fly Games record"
'' News24''. 7 April 2018. Retrieved 16 April 2022.Narrandes, Nidha (7 April 2018)
"Le Clos makes history at Commonwealth Games"
''capetownetc.com''. Retrieved 16 April 2022. His win made him the first man to win three consecutive Commonwealth Games titles in the 200-metre butterfly."Chad le Clos says 'call me Michael Phelps' after hat-trick of Commonwealth Games titles"
''sport360.com''. 7 April 2018. Retrieved 12 April 2022. It also marked the second time a man won the same event three consecutive times at the Commonwealth Games. In the 100-metre freestyle final on day four, Le Clos faced off against Scottish Olympian Duncan Scott and 2016 Olympic champion in the 100-metre freestyle, Australian Kyle Chalmers, and tied Kyle Chalmers for the silver medal, both finishing only behind Duncan Scott, with a personal best time of 48.15 seconds. Gold Coast 2018 (8 April 2018)
"Gold Coast 2018 XXI Commonwealth Games: Swimming Men's 100m Freestyle Final Results"
. ''

''. Retrieved 16 April 2022.Isaacson, David (8 April 2018)
"Chad Le Clos gets silver in 100m freestyle duel"
''

''. Retrieved 16 April 2022. On the fifth day, he won a third gold medal, this time winning the 100-metre butterfly with a new Games record time of 50.65 seconds, which was over six-tenths of a second faster than silver medalist in the event James Guy of England. Gold Coast 2018 (9 April 2018)
"Gold Coast 2018 XXI Commonwealth Games: Swimming Men's 100m Butterfly Final Results"
''

''. Retrieved 16 April 2022."Le Clos completes butterfly treble, breaks record"
'' News24''. 9 April 2018. Retrieved 16 April 2022."Sweet 16 as le Clos carves out more Games history"
''

Jacaranda FM Jacaranda FM, previously known as Jacaranda 94.2, is a South African radio station, broadcasting in English and Afrikaans, with a footprint that covers Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and the North West Province and boasts a listening audience of ...

''. 9 April 2018. Retrieved 16 April 2022."Golden day in the pool for Team South Africa"
''

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

''. 9 April 2018. Retrieved 16 April 2022.Passa, Dennis (9 April 2018)
"South Africa: big night at track, pool at Commonwealth Games"

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

. Retrieved 16 April 2022. On the sixth and final day of competition, he split a 50.10 for the butterfly leg of the 4×100-metre medley relay to help win the bronze medal in a time of 3:34.79. Gold Coast 2018 (10 April 2018)
"Gold Coast 2018 XXI Commonwealth Games: Swimming Men's 4x100m Medley Relay Final Results"
. ''

''. Retrieved 16 April 2022.

2018 Swimming World Cup

Following his success at the 2018 Swimming World Cup, Le Clos won the

for "most gold medals won in the FINA Swimming World Cup by a male swimmer" with 143 gold medals spanning his competing in Swimming World Cups starting in 2009 through the end of the 2018 Swimming World Cup."Most gold medals won in the FINA Swimming World Cup (male)"
''

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...

''. Retrieved 12 April 2022.

2018 Short Course World Championships

In the 100 metre butterfly at the 2018 World Short Course Championships in

Hangzhou Hangzhou, , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly romanized as Hangchow is a sub-provincial city in East China and the capital of Zhejiang province. With a population of 13 million, the municipality comprises ten districts, two counti ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

in December, Le Clos won the gold medal with a time of 48.50 seconds, finishing over two-tenths of a second ahead of silver medalist Caeleb Dressel of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and over seven-tenths of a second ahead of Li Zhuhao of China.

(13 December 2018)
"14th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Hangzhou (CHN): Men's 100m Butterfly Final Results"
'' Omega Timing''. Retrieved 14 December 2021."South Africa's le Clos wins gold in men's 100m butterfly in China"
''

EFE Agencia EFE, S.A. () is a Spanish international news agency, the major Spanish language, Spanish-language multimedia news agency and the world's fourth largest wire service after the Associated Press, Reuters, and Agence France-Presse. EFE was ...

''. 13 December 2018. Retrieved 14 December 2021. Le Clos set a new African record in the 200 metre butterfly with a time of 1:48.32, which earned him the silver medal in the event.

(11 December 2018)
"14th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Hangzhou (CHN): Men's 200m Butterfly Final Results"
'' Omega Timing''. Retrieved 14 December 2021. For the 50 metre butterfly, le Clos won the silver medal with a time of 21.97 seconds, finishing only behind the world record holder in the event Nicholas Santos of

(15 December 2018)
"14th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Hangzhou (CHN): Men's 50m Butterfly Final Results"
'' Omega Timing''. Retrieved 14 December 2021. Two Russians flanked Le Clos in the final of the 100 metre freestyle, with Vladimir Morozov winning the silver medal, Le Clos winning the bronze medal, and Vladislav Grinev placing fourth, all within three-tenths of a second of each other.

(16 December 2018)
"14th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Hangzhou (CHN): Men's 100m Freestyle Final Results"
'' Omega Timing''. Retrieved 14 December 2021. In the prelims heats of the 200 metre freestyle, Le Clos was 0.29 seconds off the 1:42.90 Blake Pieroni of the United States swum to achieve the eighth-fastest time and a spot in the final, instead ranking tenth with a 1:43.19 and not qualifying for the final.

(12 December 2018)
"14th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Hangzhou (CHN): Men's 200m Freestyle Heats Results Summary"
'' Omega Timing''. Retrieved 14 December 2021. In the final of the 4×50 metre freestyle relay, Le Clos split a 20.31 for the second leg of the relay to help achieve a time of 1:24.14 and a fifth-place finish.

(14 December 2018)
"14th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Hangzhou (CHN): Men's 4x50m Freestyle Final Results"
'' Omega Timing''. Retrieved 14 December 2021.

2019

2019 Long Course World Championships

Le Clos entered to compete in the 100 metre freestyle, 100 metre butterfly, and 200 metre butterfly, and chose not to swim in the 100 metre freestyle at the

2019 World Aquatics Championships The 2019 World Aquatics Championships were the 18th FINA World Aquatics Championships, held in Gwangju, South Korea from 12 to 28 July 2019. The city had previously hosted the 2015 Summer Universiade aquatics events in the same venues.

Gwangju Gwangju (; ), formerly romanized as Kwangju, is South Korea's list of cities in South Korea, sixth-largest metropolis. It is a designated Special cities of South Korea, metropolitan city under the direct control of the central government's Home ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. He won the bronze medal in the 100 metre butterfly, finishing after gold medalist Caeleb Dressel of the United States and silver medalist Andrei Minakov of

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, and the bronze medal in the 200 metre butterfly, finishing behind gold medalist Kristóf Milák of

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

and silver medalist Daiya Seto of

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

(28 July 2019)
"18th FINA World Championships Gwangju (KOR): Results Book"
'' Omega Timing''. Retrieved 14 December 2021.

2019 International Swimming League

In the Autumn of 2019, he was a member of the inaugural

International Swimming League The International Swimming League (ISL) was an annual professional swimming league, established in 2019. It features a team-based competition format with fast-paced race sessions. In 2019, the regular season started in October and the Final Match ...

competing for the Energy Standard Swim Club of which he was co-captain (with

Sarah Sjöström Sarah Fredrika Sjöström (; born 17 August 1993) is a Swedish competitive Swimming (sport), swimmer specialising in the sprint Freestyle swimming, freestyle and Butterfly stroke, butterfly events and one of the most decorated swimmers of all ti ...

). In December, the team won the overall title in Las Vegas, Nevada. Le Clos won the MVP title at the London stop on the inaugural tour amassing 44.5 points. He won the 100m / 200m Butterfly double three times over the season (Indianapolis, Naples and London), and in Indianapolis, he also won the 100m Freestyle. Over the season, he had the fourth most points (190.5) of any swimmer behind

Emma Mckeon Emma Jennifer McKeon, (born 24 May 1994) is a retired Australian competitive swimmer. She is an eight-time world record holder, three current and five former, in relays. Her total career haul of 14 Olympic medals following the 2024 Olympic Gam ...

, Caeleb Dressel, and overall MVP (and teammate) Sarah Sjöström.

2021

2020 Summer Olympics

On 23 July 2021, Le Clos shared the honour of serving as a flag bearer for

, alongside

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

player Phumelela Mbande, at the Parade of Nations during the

opening ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly constructed location or the start of an event.

of the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

.Isaacson, David (22 July 2021)
"Le Clos, Mbande reunite as flag-bearers at Tokyo opening ceremony after 2010 disaster"
'' The Sowetan''. Retrieved 2 April 2022."Chad le Clos, Phumelela Mbande to carry SA flag at Olympics opening ceremony"
'' News24''. 22 July 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2022.Gleeson, Mark (23 July 2021)
"Swimming-More tears for Bert as son Chad carries South African flag"
''

''. Retrieved 12 April 2022.Mohamed, Ashfak (23 July 2021)
"Chad le Clos, Phumelela Mbande carry South African flag at Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony"
''

''. Retrieved 12 April 2022. On the sixth day of the swimming competition, 29 July, he tied for 18th place in the preliminary heats of the 100-metre butterfly with a time of 51.89 seconds and did not advance to the next stage of the competition. Omega Timing;

Atos Atos SE is a European multinational information technology (IT) service and consulting company with headquarters in Bezons suburb of Paris, France, and offices worldwide. It specialises in hi-tech transactional services, unified communicat ...

(1 August 2021). Three days earlier, on the third day, he swam a 1:55.96 in the preliminary heats of the 200-metre butterfly, qualifying for the semifinals ranking 16th. In the semifinals the following day, day four, he qualified for the final ranking third with a time of 1:55.06."2020 Summer Olympics Results - Swimming: Men's 200m Butterfly"
''

''. 26 July 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2022. In the final of the 200-metre butterfly on day five, he placed fifth with a time of 1:54.93, finishing over three seconds behind the gold medalist in the event, Kristóf Milák of

2021 Short Course World Championships

For the 2021 World Short Course Championships, held at Etihad Arena in

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

in December, Le Clos entered to compete in the individual events 100 metre freestyle, 200 metre freestyle, 50 metre butterfly, 100 metre butterfly, and 200 metre butterfly."2021 FINA World Swimming Championships (25m): Athlete Entries"
''

''. 9 December 2021. Retrieved 13 December 2021. When travel restrictions due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

prevented two of his teammates, Matthew Sates and Tatjana Schoenmaker, from attending and competing at the Championships, Le Clos was not impacted in the same way as he had already left South Africa for the 2021 International Swimming League.Keith, Braden (14 December 2021)
"Schoenmaker, Matt Sates Out Of World SC Championships Amid Omicron Surge"
''

''. Retrieved 14 December 2021. On 16 December, day one of the championships, Le Clos ranked second in the prelims heats of the 200 metre butterfly with a 1:50.63, qualifying for the final later the same day.

(16 December 2021)
"15th FINA World Swimming Championships 2021 Abu Dhabi (UAE): Men's 200m Butterfly Heats Results Summary"
'' Omega Timing''. Retrieved 16 December 2021.Penland, Spencer (15 December 2021)
"2021 SC World Championships: Day 1 Heats Live Recap"
''

''. Retrieved 16 December 2021. In the final of the event later the same day, Le Clos won the bronze medal with a time of 1:49.84, finishing less than eight-tenths of a second after gold medalist Alberto Razzetti of

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and silver medalist Noè Ponti of

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

(16 December 2021)
"15th FINA World Swimming Championships 2021 Abu Dhabi (UAE): Men's 200m Butterfly Final Results"
'' Omega Timing''. Retrieved 16 December 2021.Hamann, Michael (16 December 2021)
"2021 Short Course World Championships: Day 1 Finals Live Recap"
''

''. Retrieved 16 December 2021. For the 200 metre freestyle on day two, Le Clos decided not to swim the event.

(17 December 2021)
"15th FINA World Swimming Championships 2021 Abu Dhabi (UAE): Men's 200m Freestyle Heats Results Summary"
'' Omega Timing''. Retrieved 17 December 2021. In the same prelims session, Le Clos qualified for the semifinals of the 100 metre butterfly with a 50.47 and ranked 11th overall.

(17 December 2021)
"15th FINA World Swimming Championships 2021 Abu Dhabi (UAE): Men's 100m Butterfly Heats Results Summary"
'' Omega Timing''. Retrieved 17 December 2021. For the semifinals of the event, Le Clos qualified for the final ranked second, ahead of Youssef Ramadan of

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

and behind Matteo Rivolta of Italy, with a 49.56.

(17 December 2021)
"15th FINA World Swimming Championships 2021 Abu Dhabi (UAE): Men's 100m Butterfly Semifinals Results Summary"
'' Omega Timing''. Retrieved 17 December 2021. In the final of the 100 metre butterfly, Le Clos finished second to win the silver medal with a time of 49.04 seconds, less than two-tenths of a second behind gold medalist Matteo Rivolta and less than two-tenths of a second ahead of bronze medalist Andrei Minakov of Russia.

(18 December 2021)
"15th FINA World Swimming Championships 2021 Abu Dhabi (UAE): Men's 100m Butterfly Final Results"
'' Omega Timing''. Retrieved 18 December 2021.Butler, Lynn (18 December 2021)
"Chad le Clos grabs silver in 100m butterfly in Abu Dhabi"
'' News24''. Retrieved 18 December 2021. Le Clos ranked 20th in the prelims heats of the 50 metre butterfly on day four with a time of 23.02 and did not qualify for the semifinals.

(19 December 2021)
"15th FINA World Swimming Championships 2021 Abu Dhabi (UAE): Men's 50m Butterfly Heats Results Summary"
'' Omega Timing''. Retrieved 19 December 2021. On the fifth day of competition, Le Clos placed 23rd in the prelims heats of the 100 metre freestyle and did not qualify for the semifinals.

(20 December 2021)
"15th FINA World Swimming Championships 2021 Abu Dhabi (UAE): Men's 100m Freestyle Heats Results Summary"
'' Omega Timing''. Retrieved 20 December 2021.

2022

In early 2022, Le Clos announced he withdrew from the competition in the year's Midmar Mile due to missed training after contracting

bronchitis Bronchitis is inflammation of the bronchi (large and medium-sized airways) in the lungs that causes coughing. Bronchitis usually begins as an infection in the nose, ears, throat, or sinuses. The infection then makes its way down to the bronchi. ...

.Sutherland, James (10 February 2022)
"Chad Le Clos Reveals Hospital Stay Due To Bronchitis, Drops Out Of Midmar Mile"
''

''. Retrieved 10 February 2022. After recovering from bronchitis, Le Clos returned to competition, winning gold medals in the long course 100-metre freestyle in 49.41 seconds and the 50-metre butterfly with a time of 24.38 seconds at the 2022 Grand Prix Meet held in

in mid-February.Race, Retta (19 February 2022)
"Le Clos Back To Racing In Durban After Bronchitis Hospital Stay"
''

''. Retrieved 19 February 2022.Hy-Tek (20 February 2022)
"2022 Grand Prix 2 Invitational Meet Durban: Results"
'' Swimming South Africa''. Retrieved 12 April 2022.

2022 South Africa National Championships

On day one of the 2022 South Africa National Swimming Championships in

Gqeberha Gqeberha ( , ), formerly named Port Elizabeth, and colloquially referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipa ...

, 6 April, he swam a 24.18 in the prelims heats of the 50-metre butterfly, qualifying for the final ranking first.Hamann, Michael (6 April 2022)
"South African Champs Day 1 Prelims: Van Niekerk Blasts World-Leading 50 Breast"
''

''. Retrieved 6 April 2022. He went on to win the final with a time of 23.93 seconds and helped achieve a win in the 4×100-metre mixed freestyle relay in 3:33.52. SwimSA TV (5 April 2022)
"SA National Swimming Championships 2022"
''

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

''. Retrieved 6 April 2022.Race, Retta (6 April 2022)
"Van Niekerk, Canny, Coetze Qualify For Budapest World Championships"
''

''. Retrieved 6 April 2022. On the second day, he made a guest appearance, commentating during the live broadcast of the 400-metre individual medley, including talking about his goal for the Championships of qualifying for his fourth Commonwealth Games and his longer-term goal of becoming the most decorated Commonwealth Games competitor, a feat he would need one more medal to equal. SwimSA TV (7 April 2022)
"SA National Swimming Championships 2022 Day 2"
''

''. Retrieved 7 April 2022. In the 200-metre butterfly on day three, he achieved a gold medal and a

and

2022 World Aquatics Championships The 2022 World Aquatics Championships, the 19th edition of the FINA World Aquatics Championships, were held in Budapest, Hungary, from 17 June to 3 July 2022. These championships included five disciplines, with high diving not staged for this edi ...

qualifying time of 1:55.75. SwimSA TV (8 April 2022)
"National Aquatics Championships 2022 Day 3"
''

''. Retrieved 8 April 2022.Isaacson, David (8 April 2022)
"Chad le Clos keeps 200m butterfly crown, but loses out in 100m freestyle"
''

''. Retrieved 8 April 2022.Lambley, Garrin (8 April 2022)
"Chad le Clos shakes off butterflies to secure Commonwealth Games qualifying time"
'' The South African''. Retrieved 8 April 2022. Later in the same session, he placed fifth in the 100-metre freestyle with a 50.86. He achieved a second qualifying time on the fourth day, winning the gold medal and national title in the 100-metre butterfly in 51.88 seconds and finishing less than two-tenths of a second ahead of silver medalist in the event, Matthew Sates. SwimSA TV (9 April 2022)
"National Aquatics Championships 2022 Day 4"
''

''. Retrieved 9 April 2022.Jonckheere, Karien (9 April 2022)
"18-year-old matric pupil stuns Olympic superstar Tatjana Schoenmaker at SA swim champs"
'' News24''. Retrieved 9 April 2022. He was later also named to the 2022 World Championships team in the 50-metre butterfly."Veteran Le Clos joins teenage brigade in SA Team for swimming World Championships"
'' Swimming South Africa''. 9 May 2022. Retrieved 13 May 2022. In June, he was officially named as part of the South Africa team to represent the country in

swimming at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Swimming (sport), Swimming was among the sports contested at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, held in Birmingham, England. The sport had been staged in all Swimming at the Commonwealth Games, twenty-one previous editions of the Games thus far, and ...

.du Plessis, Lindsay (9 June 2022)
"Le Clos, Schoenmaker named in South Africa Commonwealth Games squad"
''

''. Retrieved 19 June 2022.

2022 World Aquatics Championships

Starting on the first day of swimming competition at the 2022 World Aquatics Championships, Le Clos placed 33rd in the 50-metre butterfly preliminaries with a time of 23.86 seconds.

(18 June 2022)
"19th FINA World Championships Budapest (HUN): Men's 50m Butterfly Heats Results Summary"
'' Omega Timing''. Retrieved 18 June 2022. After struggling with breathing issues towards the beginning of the Championships, he withdrew from the remaining competition.Jonckheere, Karien (22 June 2022)
"Sates secures spot in his first world champs final, Le Clos withdraws after breathing issues"
'' News24''. Retrieved 22 June 2022.

2022 Commonwealth Games

Getting started at the

, held in July and August in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, Le Clos achieved a spot in the semifinals of the 50-metre butterfly based on his overall eighth-rank and time of 23.80 seconds in the preliminaries of the event on day one of competition."Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games: Men's 50m Butterfly Heats Results Summary"
''

''. 29 July 2022. Retrieved 29 July 2022. He placed fifth in his semifinal heat and did not advance to the event's final."Commonwealth Games Day 1: Van Niekerk powers again to Games record to advance to 50m final, Le Clos fails to defend 50m fly"
'' News24''. 29 July 2022. Retrieved 29 July 2022. On day three of competition, he ranked second in the preliminaries of the 200-metre butterfly with a time of 1:56.85, which was less than one-tenth of a second behind first-ranked Lewis Clareburt of

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and over half a second ahead of third-ranked Duncan Scott of

, and qualified for the evening final."Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games: Men's 200m Butterfly Heats Results Summary"
''

''. 31 July 2022. Retrieved 31 July 2022."South Africa Swim Star Chad Le Clos Targets Commonwealth History"
''

Barron's ''Barron's'' (stylized in all caps) is an American weekly magazine and newspaper published by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corp, since 1921. Founded as ''Barron's National Financial Weekly'' in 1921 by Clarence W. Barron (1855–19 ...

''. 31 July 2022. Retrieved 31 July 2022. He won the

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

in the final with a time of 1:55.89."Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games: Men's 200m Butterfly Final Results"
''

''. 31 July 2022. Retrieved 31 July 2022.Jonckheere, Karien (31 July 2022)
"Joy and despair for SA swimmers in Birmingham"
'' SuperSport''. Retrieved 31 July 2022. The silver medal brought his total number of medals won at the

to 18, including eight medals in individual

butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

events over his first four Commonwealth Games (2010 to 2022), which tied the record of 18 medals held by sport shooters Mick Gault of

and Phillips Adams of

for most decorated competitor at the Commonwealth Games across all sports.Botton, Wesley (31 July 2022)
"Chad le Clos storms to record 18th Commonwealth Games medal"
'' The Citizen''. Retrieved 31 July 2022.Isaacson, David (31 July 2022)
"Chad Le Clos equals record medal haul as he takes 200m butterfly silver"
''

''. Retrieved 31 July 2022."Swim star Chad le Clos equals Commonwealths medals record"
''

''. 31 July 2022. Retrieved 31 July 2022."Chad Le Clos wins 18th medal to tie Commonwealth Games' record"
'' SABC News''. 31 July 2022. Retrieved 31 July 2022. The following morning, he swam a time of 52.65 seconds in the preliminaries of the 100-metre butterfly, qualifying for the semifinals ranking ninth."Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games: Men's 100m Butterfly Heats Results Summary"
''

''. 1 August 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2022. For the semifinals, he finished in a time of 51.64 seconds and ranked second across both semifinal heats behind Matthew Temple of Australia, qualifying for the final."Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games: Men's 100m Butterfly Semi-Finals Results Summary"
''

''. 1 August 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2022. He followed his semifinals performance up with a sixth-place finish in the final of the 4×200-metre freestyle relay, splitting a 1:47.47 for the second leg of the relay."Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games: Men's 4x200m Freestyle Relay Final Results"
''

''. 1 August 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2022. In the final of the 100 metre butterfly the next day, he placed fourth with a time of 51.61 seconds."Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games: Men's 100m Butterfly Final Results"
''

''. 2 August 2022. Retrieved 2 August 2022."Golden girl Van Niekerk makes it two from two as SA swimmers rake in more medals"
'' Swimming South Africa''. 2 August 2022. Retrieved 3 August 2022. Had he won a medal in the event, he would have been the first person in history to achieve 19 medals at the Commonwealth Games over the course of their career.Botton, Wesley (2 August 2022)
"SA's golden girls shine again in the pool at Commonwealth Games"
'' The Citizen''. Retrieved 2 August 2022. He followed his performance up with a time of 50.94 seconds for the butterfly portion of the 4×100-metre mixed medley relay in the final, helping drop over five full seconds from the former South African record in the event to set new African and national records and place fourth."Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games: Mixed 4x100m Medley Relay Final Results"
''

''. 2 August 2022. Retrieved 2 August 2022.

2022 Swimming World Cup

On day one of the 2022 FINA Swimming World Cup stop held in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, Le Clos won the gold medal in the 100-metre butterfly with a time of 48.58 seconds, which was one-tenth of a second slower than the World Cup record of 48.48 seconds set in 2009 by Yevgeny Korotyshkin of

(21 October 2022)
"FINA Swimming World Cup 2022 Berlin (GER): Men's 100m Butterfly Final Results"
'' Omega Timing''. Retrieved 21 October 2022.Jonckheere, Karien (21 October 2022)
"Triumphant return for Le Clos as Sates wins gold"
'' SuperSport''. Retrieved 21 October 2022. The following day, he won the gold medal in the 200-metre butterfly with a 1:49.62."La hongkonesa Haughey lanza un serio aviso de cara a los Mundiales"
(in Spanish). ''

Infobae Infobae is an international Argentine online newspaper. It was launched in 2002 by businessman Daniel Hadad, with the original headquarters in Buenos Aires. The company expanded globally with local editions in New York City, Mexico City, Miami ...

''. 22 October 2022. Retrieved 22 October 2022. On day three of three, he won the silver medal in the 50-metre butterfly with a time of 22.21 seconds, finishing 0.08 seconds behind gold medalist Dylan Carter of

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

.Jonckheere, Karien (23 October 2022)
"Sates completes tough golden double on the final day in Berlin"
'' SuperSport''. Retrieved 23 October 2022. For all of his events at the first stop of the World Cup circuit, he ranked as the fourth highest-scoring male competitor with 56.4 points."FINA Swimming World Cup 2022: Men Individual Rankings 2022"
''

''. 2022. Retrieved 23 October 2022. In the 100-metre butterfly at the next stop, in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, he won the gold medal with a 48.88, which was 0.80 seconds ahead of silver medalist Matthew Temple and 0.87 seconds ahead of bronze medalist Trenton Julian of the United States.

(28 October 2022)
"FINA Swimming World Cup 2022 Toronto (CAN): Men's 100m Butterfly Final Results"
'' Omega Timing''. Retrieved 28 October 2022. He finished behind Trenton Julian in the 200-metre butterfly the following day with a time of 1:49.78, winning the silver medal.Isaacson, David (30 October 2022)
"Matthew Sates loses grip atop World Cup series leaderboard – for now"
''

''. Retrieved 30 October 2022. On the third day, he won the silver medal in the 50-metre butterfly with a time of 22.45 seconds.Beckles, Jelani (30 October 2022)
"Carter wins 6th gold of Swimming World Cup"
''

Trinidad and Tobago Newsday ''Trinidad and Tobago Newsday'' is a daily newspaper in Trinidad and Tobago. ''Newsday'' is the newest of the three daily papers after the ''Trinidad and Tobago Guardian'' and the '' Trinidad and Tobago Express'' respectively. The newspaper was f ...

''. Retrieved 31 October 2022. Le Clos went three-for-three in the 100-metre butterfly at the third and final stop, in

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

, United States, winning the gold medal with a time of 48.85 seconds.

(3 November 2022)
"FINA Swimming World Cup 2022: Indianapolis (USA): Mens 100m Butterfly Final Results"
'' Omega Timing''. Retrieved 3 November 2022.Jonckheere, Karien (3 November 2022)
"Triple crown for Le Clos in Indianapolis"
'' SuperSport''. Retrieved 4 November 2022.Isaacson, David (4 November 2022)
"Le Clos seals R180,000 bonus for 100m butterfly triumph, but Sates misses out"
''

''. Retrieved 4 November 2022. The following day, he regained the golden crown in the 200-metre butterfly from Trenton Julian with a time of 1:49.89, winning the event 0.19 seconds faster than the American who won the gold medal ahead of him in Toronto.Jonckheere, Karien (4 November 2022)
"Sweet revenge for inspired Le Clos"
'' SuperSport''. Retrieved 4 November 2022. In his final event, the 50-metre butterfly, he won the silver medal with a time of 22.27 seconds.

(5 November 2022)
"FINA Swimming World Cup 2022: Indianapolis (USA): Men's 50m Butterfly Final Results"
'' Omega Timing''. Retrieved 5 November 2022. For his performances across the whole World Cup circuit, he ranked as the third overall highest-scoring male competitor with 166.3 points, which was 6.3 points behind male overall winner Dylan Carter.Butler, Lynn (7 November 2022)
"Le Clos stars to claim 3rd spot in Swimming World Cup series, Sates ends 5th"
'' News24''. Retrieved 7 November 2022.

2022 Short Course World Championships

Day two of six at the 2022 World Short Course Championships, 14 December in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Australia, Le Clos placed fifth in the 50 metre butterfly with a time of 22.11 seconds.

(14 December 2022)
"16th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Melbourne (AUS): Men's 50m Butterfly Final Results"
'' Omega Timing''. Retrieved 14 December 2022."African record for Coetzé as Van Niekerk powers into breaststroke final"
'' Swimming South Africa''. 14 December 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2022. On The third day, he won the gold medal in the 200 metre butterfly with a personal best time of 1:48.27, which set new African, Commonwealth, and South African records in the event and was 0.95 seconds faster than silver medalist Daiya Seto.

(15 December 2022)
"16th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Melbourne (AUS): Men's 200m Butterfly Final Results"
'' Omega Timing''. Retrieved 15 December 2022.Butler, Lynn (15 December 2022)
"Le Clos smashes African record to take gold in Melbourne"
'' News24''. Retrieved 15 December 2022.Isaacson, David (15 December 2022)
"Vintage Chad Le Clos scoops SA's second gold at world championships"
''

''. Retrieved 15 December 2022.Pérez, Marta (15 December 2022)
"Enorme remontada de Le Clos en los 200 mariposa y Chalmers, campeón de los 100 libre"
(in Spanish). ''

Mundo Deportivo ''Mundo Deportivo'' (; ) is a Spanish nationwide daily sports newspaper published in Barcelona. History and profile ''Mundo Deportivo'' was first published on 1 February 1906, as a weekly newspaper, and since 1929 daily. It is the oldest sports ...

''. Retrieved 15 December 2022."Úszás: Chad le Clos nyerte a 200 pillangót a rövid pályás vb-n"
(in Hungarian). ''

Nemzeti Sport ''Nemzeti Sport'' (, ) is a Hungarian sports daily. History and profile ''Nemzeti Sport'' was founded in 1903. It is frequently cited by quality English-language media The paper is published in broadsheet format. Between the World War I and Worl ...

''. 15 December 2022. Retrieved 15 December 2022. In the final of his third and final event, the 100 metre butterfly final on day six, he won the gold medal with a time of 48.59 seconds.

(18 December 2022)
"16th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Melbourne (AUS): Men's 100m Butterfly Final Results"
'' Omega Timing''. Retrieved 18 December 2022.Jonckheere, Karien (18 December 2022)
"Golden butterfly double for Le Clos as Van Niekerk secures silver"
'' SuperSport''. Retrieved 22 December 2022.Pérez, Marta (18 December 2022)
"Hwang gana los 200 libre y Le Clos y Fink cierran sus dobletes"
(in Spanish). ''

''. Retrieved 23 December 2022.

2023

In April, at the 2023 South Africa National Championships in Gqeberha, Le Clos won the national title in the 200-metre butterfly in a

2023 World Aquatics Championships The 2023 World Aquatics Championships, the 20th edition of the World Aquatics Championships, were held in Fukuoka, Japan, from 14 to 30 July 2023. Originally scheduled to be held in 2021 as the 19th championships, the championships were postpo ...

qualifying time of 1:56.05. SwimSA TV (13 April 2023)
"SA National Aquatic Championships 2023 Day 2 Finals"
''

''. Retrieved 13 April 2023."Campionati Sudafrica. Giorno 2. Pieter Coetze: 50 dorso (24.35). Chad Le Clos: 200 farfalla (1.56.05)"
(in Italian). ''nuoto.com''. 13 April 2023. Retrieved 14 April 2023. The following day, he won the 100-metre freestyle national title with a time of 48.97 seconds, finishing 0.22 seconds ahead of silver medalist

Pieter Coetze Pieter Coetze (born 13 May 2004) is a South African swimmer. He is the African record holder in the long course and short course 100 metre backstroke and short course 50 metre backstroke. At the 2022 Commonwealth Games, he won the gold medal ...

. SwimSA TV (14 April 2023)
"SA National Aquatic Championships 2023 Day 3 Finals"
''

''. Retrieved 14 April 2023. He added a second World Championships qualifying time on day four, winning the gold medal and national title in the 100-metre butterfly with a time of 51.37 seconds in the final. SwimSA TV (15 April 2023)
"SA National Aquatic Championships 2023 Day 4 Finals"
(time stamp, 1:09:11 to 1:13:50). ''

''. Retrieved 15 April 2023."Campionati Sudafrica. Giorno 4. Chad Le Clos: 100 farfalla (51.37). Lara van Niekerk: 50 rana (29.78)"
(in Italian). ''nuoto.com''. 15 April 2023. Retrieved 15 April 2023.

International championships (50 m)

: Le Clos swam only in the prelims heats. : Le Clos withdrew after qualifying for the final.

International championships (25 m)

: Le Clos swam only in the prelims heats.

Personal best times

Long course (50-metre pool)

Short course (25-metre pool)

Swimming World Cup circuits

The following medals Le Clos has won at Swimming World Cup circuits.

Guinness world records

* "Most gold medals won in the FINA Swimming World Cup (male)", 2018: 143 gold medals from 2009 to 2018.

World records

Short course (25-metre pool)

Legend: AF – African record; CR – Commonwealth record; NR – South African record

Awards and honours

, Top 10 Moments: 2021 Swimming World Cup (#3)"Swimming World Cup: Top 10 Moments"
''

''. 8 November 2021. Retrieved 8 November 2021. * FINA,

Athlete of the Year Athlete of the Year is an award given by various sports organizations for the athlete whom they have determined to be deserving of such recognition. Definition of "athlete" *In many nations, an "athlete" primarily refers to someone who participa ...

, Swimming (male): 2014,Adrega, Pedro (1 December 2014)
"FINA Athletes of the Year 2014 unveiled in Doha"
''

''. Retrieved 12 April 2022. 2018"Le Clos named FINA swimmer of the year"
'' News24''. 17 December 2018. Retrieved 12 April 2022. * ''

'' Swammy Award, Male Swimmer of the Year: 2013, 2014, 2018Carlson, Reid (24 December 2018)
"2018 Swammy Awards: Chad le Clos, Male African Swimmer of The Year"
''

''. Retrieved 12 April 2022. * He was conferred the silver Order of Ikhamanga on 27 April 2013. In a statement by the Chairperson of the National Orders Advisory Council, Dr. Cassius Lubisi, le Clos was conferred the honour "For his excellent achievements on the international swimming stage, especially at the London Olympics in 2012, thus placing South Africa in high standing globally in the field of Aquatic sports." * He was also announced as the KZN Newsmaker of the Year 2013 at the Durban City Hall on 9 October 2013. The event was hosted by the

Durban University of Technology The Durban University of Technology (DUT) is a multi-campus university situated in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was formed in 2002 following the merger of Technikon Natal and ML Sultan Technikon and it was initially known as the Durban In ...

, the City of

, and the DUT Journalism Advisory Board. Radio personality

Alan Khan Alan Khan (born 17 December 1971) is a South African media and radio personality. He hosts the talk show ''Walk the Talk with Alan Khan'' on Lotus FM. In April 2015 Khan was inducted into the South African Radio Hall of Fame. He is currently t ...

was the programme director. Le Clos was not present to receive his award as he was swimming in Moscow. His father, Bert le Clos, received the honour on le Clos' behalf. * Le Clos won the Daily News SPAR Sports Person of the Year in 2010, in which the top school sportsmen were nominated.

References

External links

Background

2010–2011

2010 Commonwealth Games

2010 Short Course World Championships

2011 Long Course World Championships

2012–2013

2012 Summer Olympics

2013 Long Course World Championships

2013 Swimming World Cup

2014–2015

2014 Commonwealth Games

2014 Short Course World Championships

2015 Long Course World Championships

2016

2016 Summer Olympics

2016 Short Course World Championships

2017–2018

2017 Long Course World Championships

2017 Swimming World Cup

2018 Commonwealth Games

2018 Swimming World Cup

2018 Short Course World Championships

2019

2019 Long Course World Championships

2019 International Swimming League

2021

2020 Summer Olympics

2021 Short Course World Championships

2022

2022 South Africa National Championships

2022 World Aquatics Championships

2022 Commonwealth Games

2022 Swimming World Cup

2022 Short Course World Championships

2023

International championships (50 m)

International championships (25 m)

Personal best times

Long course (50-metre pool)

Short course (25-metre pool)

Swimming World Cup circuits

Guinness world records

World records

Short course (25-metre pool)

Awards and honours

See also

References

External links