With Phelps Gone, “Nothing’s Changed” for le Clos

Olivier Poirier-Leroy is a former national level swimmer based out of Victoria, BC. In feeding his passion for swimming, he has developed YourSwimBook, a powerful log book and goal setting guide made specifically for swimmers. Sign up for the YourSwimBook newsletter (free) and get weekly motivational tips by clicking here. 

A year ago in London Chad Le Clos stepped up and did the unthinkable – unseated Michael Phelps in the 200 metre butterfly, an event that Phelps had dominated for the better part of a decade. With Phelps gone, the 21 year old South African will have to find new sources of motivation heading into World Championships this weekend in Barcelona.

For some swimmers no longer having the ghost of a competitior to chase up-and-down the pool can be deflating. Not so for Le Clos, he insists, saying that nothing has changed with Phelps retirement, with Le Clos saying in a recent interview that “it was obviously my dream to beat him but now that he´s not there I still carry on giving 100%. Nothing has changed.”

In a field that looks markedly different from last year, Le Clos has now become the hunted in the 200m butterfly. While Laszlo Cseh (HUN) remains a consistent threat, other swimmers are also on the rise, including Yuki Kobori (JPN) and le Clos’ training partner Bence Biczo (HUN) who beat le Clos at the Hungarian Nationals.

Leading the world so far this year is Pawel Korzeniowski (POL) who swam a 1:55.26 at the Polish National Championships earlier this year. The next 8 ranked swimmers in the world are all within half a second.

As for Phelps, le Clos plans on going swimming with his one time idol – but not in a pool. Phelps is heading to South Africa after Worlds to go shark-cage diving with Le Clos.

“I’m actually quite scared of sharks,” Le Clos said. “I don’t know how he convinced me.”

Top 10 in the World for 200m Butterfly (as of July 25, 2013)

1. Pawel Korzeniowski (POL)           1:55.26
2. Bence Biczo (HUN)                          1:55.32
3. Grant Irvine (AUS)                           1:55.32
4. Chad Le Clos (RSA)                          1:55.40
5. Yuki Kobori (JPN)                             1:55.51
6. Tom Luchsinger (USA)                   1:55.57
7. Daiya Seto (JPN)                               1:55.59
8. Nikolay Skvortsov (RUS)               1:55.70
9. Kenta Hirai (JPN)                              1:55.82
10. Yin Chen (CHN)                                 1:55.82