2019 FINA WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS
- All sports: Friday, July 12 – Sunday, July 28, 2019
- Pool swimming: Sunday, July 21 – Sunday, July 28, 2019
- The Nambu University Municipal Aquatics Center, Gwangju, Korea
- Meet site
- FinaTV Live Stream
- Live results
In our men’s 100m fly World Championships preview, we picked South African Chad Le Clos to be the silver medalist in the event behind America’s Caeleb Dressel. Le Clos landed off the podium last time around in Budapest, not making the semi-final, but managed to get the 200m fly gold at those 2017 World Championships.
Since then, Le Clos swept the fly events at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and also successfully defended his Short Course World Championships title in the 100m fly, holding off Dressel in the process.
However, The Times of South Africa ($) is reporting the multi-Olympic medalist Le Clos may be entering Gwangju with a physical disadvantage, currently dealing with a groin hernia that may need surgery after this World Championships.
“I’ve been pushing off the wall at 70 percent, 80 percent max in training,” Le Clos said, according to the Times. “It’s only [sore] when I push off the wall, not actually when I kick.”
Pending start lists for Gwangju, Le Clos is expected to race in the 100m and 200m fly, as well as the 200m free. The South African currently ranks 4th in the 100m fly in 51.25 and 8th in the 200m fly a mark of 1:55.48.
He won’t feel anything when the adrenaline kicks in and pushing off the wall at 80% does not affect training either so he should be fine. I am not sure that he can medal even in his best, maybe 200 fly.
I think he can medal in the 200 fly if he’s otherwise in shape. That being said, I don’t think it’s worth it in terms of risk:reward. He should sit out of Worlds, get it fixed, focus on recovering, and then get ready for Tokyo. If he pushes it too hard this summer, he could make it even worse, and that’ll make a big impact on preparations for 2020. I think he’s still got a medal or two in him for Tokyo, but he’s gonna have to be on top of his game with all the young talent right now. Not dealing with this injury proactively puts that in serious jeopardy.
He may wanna cut down on that schedule
I guess we won’t catch him shadow boxing again
It’s a shame for him. I feel like even at 100% he would have a hard time this year with a lot of talent in both fly races. I don’t see him on the podium in 1Fly or 2Fly now.