Chad le Clos can see his legacy, but feels his age

Chad le Clos is feeling his age.

The 34-year-old, who won three relay medals in Glasgow this week to take his career haul of Commonwealth Games gongs to an unprecedented 21, has inspired a generation of youngsters.

One of them is Pieter Coetzé, who was six when Le Clos won his first Commonwealth Games medal at Delhi in 2010.

Sixteen years later, Coetzé was the standout star of the national team, landing six medals, including three backstroke golds, and flirting with the 100m backstroke world record.

The Glasgow showpiece was as much a celebration of Le Clos’s glittering career as it was a demonstration of Coetzé’s immense abilities. It also offered a showcase of South Africa’s wider talent pool.

No South African swimming team has won more than three medals at a single Olympics, but the class of 2026, which landed a record 22 Commonwealth Games medals — 18 in able-bodied events — has the potential to change that at Los Angeles 2028.

“I put my house on Pieter winning three medals [at LA28], definitely a gold or two,” said Le Clos, also singling out prospects like Michael Houlie, Chris Smith, Aimee Canny, Lara van Niekerk and Calvyn Justus.

Hardest week ever

In Glasgow, Le Clos was unable to reach the podium in an individual race for the first time in his Commonwealth career, which spans five editions.

He admitted that his schedule was hard on his body. “I’m not recovering the same as I was even four years ago, so I can’t actually go back-to-back. This week was physically the hardest week I’ve ever done — and that’s not because of training, I can’t train any harder — it’s just that the body is not recovering [like it used to].”

He raced nine times in six days.

“I have to be smarter with the way that I approach how we swim, and I’ve got to make a little bit of an adjustment because I wasn’t ready for that physically. I was ready for it mentally.

“I think physically I just didn’t realise it was going to be like that. That’s the age factor,” admitted Le Clos, who is keen to go to Los Angeles.

Powerful relays

There is at least one possible relay medal there with his name on it — the men’s 4x100m medley. And it’s tangible.

Before the era of Le Clos and breaststroke star Cameron van der Burgh was the age of the freestyle kings Roland Schoeman, Ryk Neethling and Lyndon Ferns, members of the 4x100m freestyle team that won Commonwealth Games silver in 2002 and then Olympic gold at Athens 2004.

From a guy who’s in the departure lounge, it’s really cool to see the legacy of South African swimming is in great hands

—  Chad le Clos, veteran swimmer

In 2002, their time was 2.7% off the world record, set at the preceding Sydney 2000 Olympics.

In Glasgow the men’s 4x100m medley team was 1.8% off the winning time at Paris 2024 and 2.1% off the world record.

The mixed medley team was 2.4% off the world record, and the men’s 4x100m freestyle was 2.5% off the winning time in Paris.

As long as Le Clos is the fastest 100m butterfly swimmer in South Africa and among the top four freestylers, he has spots on both teams.

He agrees these relays carry huge potential, but he believes he has more to offer in 2028. “The plan was always to go to LA to be honest, even without the relays,” said Le Clos.

He pointed out that his 51.49 in the 100m butterfly final in Scotland was one of his fastest times since 2019.

A nervous spectator

It was good enough only for fifth, and in the heat of the moment he tossed his cap against the wall in disappointment. “I think that’s just the competitor in me. I just thought I’d be a bit better and a bit closer. I was with them at 75m.”

Le Clos has always been fiercely competitive, thriving on the thrill of racing; as a youngster he used to race his stablemates during training sessions.

He burst onto the global scene, beating Michael Phelps to the 200m butterfly gold at London 2012, his first of four Olympic medals, a South African record matched in 2024 by the now-retired Tatjana Smith, who outranks him with two golds and two silvers to one gold and three silvers.

I pinched him. I didn’t realise I was pinching him so hard

For all Le Clos’s BMT in the pool, sitting in the stands watching his teammates winning his 20th Commonwealth Games medal in the mixed 4x100m medley final (he had swum in the heats) was tough on the nerves.

“I’ve never cheered harder in my life for a race. I was there with the coaches,” said Le Clos, who had a hand on the back of one coach. “I pinched him. I didn’t realise I was pinching him so hard.”

Le Clos, who is being coached again by Durban-based Delon Dannhauser, the assistant in his early days of senior swimming, has an encyclopaedic knowledge of swimming, able to recall results and times beyond his own.

Swimmers going faster

He pointed out that his 100m ‘fly time this week wasn’t much slower than the 51.29 he swam to take gold the last time the Commonwealth Games were held in Glasgow in 2014 (he went 51.44 for his 2012 Olympic silver).

He made the point he’d trained properly only for five months before Glasgow. “That’s hugely encouraging.”

But the sport is getting faster. The automatic qualifying time for LA is 51.06, which he’s achieved only four times in his career, from 2013 to 2018. “I don’t know what I can do, but I’d like to think that I can get back into contention [at the Olympics].”

He’s a lot more confident for the world short-course championships in Beijing in December. “I plan to be on the podium. Long-course [Olympic pool] I’ve got a bit of work to do.”

Whether Le Clos can add to his Olympic medal tally or not, he’s part of a local swimming boom he helped to inspire.

“From a guy who’s in the departure lounge, it’s really cool to see the legacy of South African swimming is in great hands.”