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Chad le Clos
Photograph via Wikimedia Commons
Sport Landmark

Chad le Clos

born 1992

Olympic, world and Commonwealth swimming champion

Landmark is level 2 of 4 in the South Africa Hall of Fame: a first that opened a door, or the pre-eminent figure of their generation in this country. See how the levels work.

Why they are here

He beat Michael Phelps over 200 metres butterfly at the London Olympics by five hundredths of a second, and has been among the world's best in the pool for over a decade.

Chad Guy Bertrand le Clos was twenty and almost unknown outside South Africa when he lined up for the 200 metres butterfly final in London in 2012 against Michael Phelps, who had won the event at the previous three Olympics and had never been beaten in it.

Le Clos came from behind over the last ten metres and touched five hundredths of a second ahead. The footage of his father Bert reacting to it in a BBC interview became as famous in Britain as the race itself. He took silver in the 100 metres butterfly at the same games, and added two more silvers at Rio in 2016.

He has won world championship titles in the long and short course pools, holds short-course world records, and is the most successful athlete in Commonwealth Games history by medal count with eighteen. He kept competing at the top through his mother's and his father's cancer diagnoses, which he spoke about openly at the time.
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