The King Is Back: Chad Le Clos On World Record Watch In 100 Fly

2022 FINA SHORT COURSE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

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Surprise surprise, the king is back.

At the age of 30, after more than a decade of success at the highest level of the sport, Chad Le Clos swam the fastest 200 fly of his career on Thursday at the Short Course World Championships in Melbourne, reclaiming gold in the event for the first time since 2016.

Le Clos first introduced us to this new version of himself, Chad Le Clos 2.0, in October on the FINA World Cup circuit, and has clearly found a new gear this year, culminating with a defiant victory in the 200 fly in Melbourne.

The South African native clocked a time of 1:48.27, dipping under his African Record of 1:48.32 from 2018, as he’s now been under the 1:49 barrier on seven different occasions—but this was just the second time in four years.

After winning the short course world championship title in 2010, 2014 and 2016, Le Clos had back-to-back near misses, earning silver in 2018 and then taking bronze in 2021.

Given his current form, it begs the question of what Le Clos might be capable of in the 100 fly, which will get underway with preliminary heats on Saturday morning before the final during the last session of the competition on Sunday.

Le Clos broke the 100 fly world record in 2014 and held onto it for six years, clocking 48.44 at the 2014 SC Worlds in Doha before lowering it to 48.08 at the 2016 SC Worlds in Windsor, Canada.

During the 2020 International Swimming League Final, Caeleb Dressel broke Le Clos’ record in 47.78, which remains the only swim in history under 48 seconds.

Le Clos has already been 48.58 this year, which ranks as the 10th-fastest performance of all-time.

All-Time Performances, Men’s 100 Butterfly (SCM)

Split Comparison

In the 50 fly on Day 2, Le Clos finished fifth in a time of 22.11, and was notably eighth after the first 25 meters.

Although that’s shy of his personal best of 21.95 from 2014, it’s not too far off, and the back half speed he showed in the 200 fly should put him in a good spot to take a real run at Dressel’s world record in the 100-meter event.

Le Clos won four consecutive short course world titles in the 100 fly from 2012 to 2018 before he was upended by Italian Matteo Rivolta last year in Abu Dhabi, and it will once again be a competitive field he’ll take on in Melbourne. In addition to Rivolta, Swiss native Noe Ponti projects to be a force after winning silver in the 50 and bronze in the 200 fly.