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| Human Interest | |
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Further Personal Information | |
| Residence | Durban, RSA |
General Interest | |
| Hero / Idol | Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, US boxer Muhammad Ali. (timeslive.co.za, 15 Sep 2015) |
Sport Specific Information | |
| When and where did you begin this sport? | At age eight he joined Seagulls Swimming Club in Durban, South Africa. He began competing at age 10. |
General Interest | |
| Other information | MENTAL HEALTH He has spoken about experiencing depression during the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. "I only started to speak to someone after the Olympics – biggest mistake of my life – and I started getting myself right again. I was in a dark place, even after the Olympics. I was super depressed. There were times where I was sitting in my room just crying by myself. I didn't know why I was like that. It genuinely wasn't about the Olympics. It was about my future and about me. It felt like I had fallen such a long way from where I was in terms of who I was as a person. It really wasn't about swimming. I did some deep therapy last year [2021]. I'm okay to talk about it now because I'm actually good. I'm 100% good now compared to last year." (ghanamma.com, 04 May 2022; swimswam.com, 05 May 2022) OTHER ACTIVITIES He has served as an ambassador for the World Anti-Doping Agency [WADA]. In April 2018 he opened the Chad Le Clos Academy in Cape Town, South Africa. In December 2018 he launched the Chad Le Clos Foundation, aimed at supporting and developing swimming in South Africa. ''I really want to see the growth of swimming as a sport, both in South Africa and ultimately across the world, by helping existing swimmers improve and encouraging beginners to learn our sport and develop life skills.'' (bbc.co.uk, 29 Jun 2021; swimswam.com, 07 Dec 2018; chadleclos.com, 20 Apr 2018) |
| Injuries | In October 2021 a shoulder injury prevented him from competing at that month's World Cup event in Budapest, Hungary. The following month he missed the International Swimming League [ISL] semifinal in Eindhoven, Netherlands, with a knee injury. (fina.org, 09 Oct 2021; Instagram profile, 12 Nov 2021) In May 2020 he had surgery to remove a cyst on his foot, and stomach surgery to treat long-term abdominal pain. He was kept from training for seven weeks. (olympics.nbcsports.com, 03 Nov 2020) He was troubled by a groin injury ahead of the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju, Republic of Korea. (olympics.nbcsports.com, 15 Jul 2019) In early 2014 an Achilles tendon injury kept him out of action for two weeks. (aspetar.com, 15 Aug 2014) In late 2012 he suffered a rotator cuff injury in his shoulder and missed six weeks. (aspetar.com, 15 Aug 2014) In 2009 he tore adductor muscles in both hips. (aspetar.com, 15 Aug 2014) |
| Awards and honours | He was named flag bearer for South Africa for the opening ceremony of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. (swimmingworldmagazine.com, 19 Nov 2021) He was named 2018 African Swimmer of the Year by SwimSwam magazine. (swimswam.com, 28 Jul 2019) He was named the 2018 Best Male Swimmer of the Year at the International Swimming Federation's [FINA] World Aquatics Gala in Hangzhou, People's Republic of China. (swimmingworldmagazine.com, 16 Dec 2018) He was named the 2018 South African Sportsman of the Year at the annual South Africa Sports Awards. He also won the award in 2014. (swimswam.com, 19 Nov 2018) He was named the Best Male Athlete at the 2016 World Short Course Championships in Windsor, ON, Canada. (enca.com, 12 Dec 2016) In February 2015 he received the South African Ubuntu Sport Diplomacy Award. (swimswam.com, 15 Feb 2015) He was named Male Swimmer of the Meet at the 2014 World Short Course Championships in Doha, Qatar. (swimmingworldmagazine.com, 07 Dec 2014) He was named the 2014 FINA Male Swimmer of the Year. (swimswam.com, 01 Dec 2014) |
Further Personal Information | |
| Occupation | Athlete |
| Languages | English |
Sport Specific Information | |
| Club / Team | Energy Standard Swim Club: Turkey |
| Why this sport? | "I played football from a really young age and my family is very much into football. I was the first swimmer in a big family and when I first came home and told my aunts and uncles I was going to start swimming they were really surprised. I made the decision to concentrate on swimming in high school when I was about 13 or 14. I started really focusing and I stopped playing football around that age. I would still kick a ball about in the garden with my brother but I always hoped from a very young age that it would be swimming which would take me to where I am now." |
| Name of coach | James Gibson [club], GBR |
General Interest | |
| Sporting philosophy / motto | "I've always said there's only one person you have to fear, and that's the person that never gives up - and that's me. I don't quit, I'm not intimidated. I train really hard, I leave nothing out there. I'd love to train with my competitors, see if they could hang with me." (thetimes.co.uk, 10 Apr 2020) |
| Milestones | He became the first athlete representing South Africa in any sport to win more than three medals at the Olympic Games when he claimed silver in the 100m butterfly at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, which was his fourth Olympic medal. (ONS, 12 Aug 2016; SportsDeskOnline, 12 Aug 2016) He won five medals at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, QLD, Australia, taking his overall Commonwealth Games medal tally to 17, the most by any swimmer at the Commonwealth Games. (chadleclos.com, 11 Apr 2018; SportsDeskOnline, 18 Dec 2018) |
Further Personal Information | |
| Family | Partner Jeanni Mulder |
General Interest | |
| Famous relatives | His partner Jeanni Mulder placed in the top five of the 2021 Miss South Africa beauty pageant. (misssa.co.za, 16 Oct 2021; Instagram profile, 17 Oct 2021) |
| Ambitions | To win a gold medal at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. (news24.com, 29 Jul 2021) |