32-year-old Chad le Clos of South Africa updated his social media account this week with the news he will be taking some time out of the pool to address an injury.
The Olympic multi-medalist said, “Hi guys, just to you know that I was advised by the doctors earlier this month to take some time off to [let] my body heal.
“16 years of elite swimming mean that L5 and L4 in my back need a proper break to heal properly.
“As a result, I won’t be back in the pool competitively until the World Cup in October. Thanks to everyone for your support.”
This means le Clos will be bypassing this year’s World Championships on the calendar for this July in Singapore, citing the 2025 World Aquatics Swimming World Cup as his next competition back in the water.
At the 2024 World Championships in Doha, le Clos missed out on taking home hardware, with his highest finish coming in the 100m fly where he placed 5th in a time of 51.48.
After sweeping the men’s butterfly events twice at the Short Course World Championships (2014, 2016), he was unable to qualify for the final in any of them at last year’s edition in Budapest.
Le Clos nursed a shoulder injury in the lead-up to the 2024 Olympic Games where his best finish came in the 100m fly where he placed 24th.
The unempluzz strikes again
would love to still see him in deck running around trying to hype everyone up to sprint the first 50 of their 200s
The drive , dedication , determination and sheer resolve even in his mid 40s is inspirational.
He’s 32
I am also bypassing worlds.
Bro please just hang it up you’ve left your legacy go enjoy retirement
Fries bag bro
Chad Le Clos itsover.0
When do tickets go on sale?
I asked World Aquatics this on twitter today but haven’t got a response yet.
The Para World Champs tickets are already on sale but no info about standard World Champs.
I’ve reached out to our contacts in the organizing committee to ask.
Thank you!!