Olympic Finalist Max Litchfield Joins Chad Le Clos In South Africa

Today on social media Olympic finalist Max Litchfield of Great Britain let the world know he has changed up his training environment, as well as his overall racing plans for this summer.

The 27-year-old ace who placed 4th in the 400m IM at both the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, as well as the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo has moved to South Africa. He’ll be training alongside Olympic medalist Chad Le Clos.

Although it’s ambiguous as to how the new training arrangement came about, Litchfield said in his post, “The last few weeks I have taken a step away from social media due to a personal situation away from the pool.

“I made the decision to come out to South Africa to train with Chad, as one of the best in the world this meant I could continue training in a world class environment but reflect and refresh mentally away from the pool.”

Although Litchfield was listed on the psych sheets for the 2022 British Swimming Championships, the man is already pre-selected for the 2022 FINA World Aquatic Championships in Budapest due to his Olympic final appearance. As such, he says he will no longer be racing in Sheffield but instead will be partaking in the South African National Championships which begin on April 4th.

“Having loved training out here and the fact I have pre qualified for Worlds and Commonwealth Games I have made the decision to stay out here and swim at the SA Nationals ahead of the summer. Best of luck to all the swimmers back home I will be rooting for you all.”

Litchfield does not appear on the South African National Championships psych sheets as of the time of publishing. Prior to his move to South Africa, the IM specialist had been a member of the elite squad at National Centre – Loughborough under coach Dave Hemmings.

We have reached out to both Litchfield and Hemmings for comment.