South African Olympic Champion, Chad Le Clos, was back in the pool racing this weekend, as the Mpumalanga leg of the South African Swimming Grand Prix kicked off the 2016 SA swimming season. Le Clos, along with other notables Myles Brown, Calvyn Justus and Ayrton Sweeney, took to the Nelspruit Swimming Pool on January 9th and 10th, competing against both local and elite swimmers.
Day 1 Results
On day 1, Le Clos notched two victories, winning the 100m freestyle gold medal in a time of 49.22, representing the only man of the field to clock a sub-50-second outing. Justus touched the wall over a second behind for the silver, stopping the clock at 50.42.
Le Clos’ 2nd victory on the first day came in the form of his 50m butterfly win in which he touched the wall in 24.14. Seagulls’ teammate Clayton Jimmie wound up with the silver in another sub-25-second time, clearing a mark of 24.71 for his efforts.
Sweeney registered the win in the men’s 400m IM, scoring a time of 4:28.29 and followed that up with the podium-topping time of 2:18.40 to win the 200m breaststroke.
Day 2 Results
The men’s 200m freestyle saw megastar Le Clos swim in the heats, only to scratch out of the finals in the evening session. Le Clos scored the 3rd-best time in the AM session, clocking a mark of 1:52.62, but it was Brown who took the meet title in finals. Brown topped the 200m free field in a time of 1:49.23, followed by Seagulls’ teammate Justus, who touched in 1:51.24 for silver.
Fly guy Le Clos did do some damage, however, in the men’s 100m butterfly, winning the event handily in a time of 51.82. Le Clos already owns the top time in the world this season with his mark of 51.09 from the World Cup in Dubai, but his time today also makes the world’s top 5, sliding into the 5th spot.
2015-2016 LCM Men 100 FLY
SCHOOLING
50.39*OR
| 2 | Laszlo CSEH | HUN | 50.86 | 05/21 |
| 3 | Michael PHELPS | USA | 51.00 | 07/02 |
| 4 | Chad LE CLOS | RSA | 51.09 | 11/07 |
| 5 | Tom SHIELDS | USA | 51.20 | 07/02 |
Sweeney collected more hardware to go with his wins on day 1, taking today’s 100m breaststroke race in a time of 1:03.73, while Brown took home the victory in the 200m bacsktroke. Brown topped the field in that race with is outing of 2:06.84, adding a gold to his silver in the men’s 100m backstroke from day 1 (57.95).
Typically a freestyler specializing in the 200m and 400m events, Brown may be a product of South African Head Coach, Graham Hill, testing out potential medley relay lead-offs for Rio.
I will put Phelps for Gold and big battle for silver between Leclos , Shields and Cseh .
I say leclos, phelps, cseh/shields. But watch out for li zhuhao.
I say Phelps, Le clos, Cseh, Schooling/Shields
100 fly is going to be a fun race to watch at Rio. I think it’s going to be all about energy management, personally. I say Schooling is first at the 50 and gets caught at the end (not necessarily “dies”, but noticeably fades). Le Clos will be second at the 50 and finish strong. Phelps will be third or fourth at the 50 and finish like an absolute animal. Cseh will be third or fourth at the 50 and finish strong.
I believe Shields has the potential to upset that mix somewhat and challenge for a podium spot. I say it’s Le Clos and Phelps for gold and silver, in either order, though I’m pulling for Phelps. Schooling,… Read more »
IBUYGOATS is right. Since synthetic suits are now disallowed and Crocker has retired, there are only 4 active swimmers under :51 in 100m butterfly. They are Phelps, Le Clos, Cseh, and Schooling, with Phelps clocking the fastest time in Austin last year and favorite to take Gold in Rio this summer.
With LeClos on the rise and Phelps on the decline, it will be an interesting 2016. In my mind, I just can’t see a 31-year old Phelps winning a gold in the 100 fly. With 5 guys going under :51 and 20+ guys under :52, it is going to take a :49 or :50 flat to win.
Hitting the taper right at this age is going to be a crap shoot.
There are only 4 guys under :51. Shields hasn’t gone under :51 until he goes under :51. And what is your rationale for Phelps being “on the decline”?
Yes, because swimming his best butterfly times in six years is clearly a sign of decline…
There’s always someone wondering if Phelps is going to be too old despite swimming his best 100m/200m fly times in a textile suit just 5 months ago. I guess add Tom From Chicago to the list, but I personally think Phelps at age 31 will be swimming even faster than Phelps at age 30.