Olympic gold medallists Cameron van der Burgh and Chad le Clos would not let the cat out of the bag about their next moves but the Mother City seems to be the next destination for the country’s two top swimmers.
Van der Burgh confirmed he would be moving to Cape Town at the end of the year while Le Clos remained tight-lipped about whether he would make a similar switch.
Le Clos recently dropped the bomb that he would separate from long-time coach Graham Hill, who coached him to an Olympic gold medal and three silvers.
The 24-year-old revealed he would launch the Chad le Clos Swimming Academy in the near future but he would not divulge whether he has found a replacement for Hill yet, and where he would be based.
“I’ve been by myself and I’ve been training at Westville Boys’ High School in my own pool, the Chad le Clos Pool which is quite nice,” Le Clos said.
“It is a change but it is something I wanted to do, and there is obviously no hard feelings, I have much respect for Graham.
“I want to create a legacy for myself for the future and the CLC, Chad le Clos academy will be up and running next year.”
Van der Burgh on the other hand said he would move to Cape Town at the end of the year where he would be looking to start setting up a life after swimming.
“For me it is about setting myself up, I’ve been managed and mentored by Ryk Neethling which has been a major positive in my life and I’ve been able to see how he transitions from sport to business,” Van der Burgh said.
“That is my biggest goal for the next four years to try and set myself up to ensure that I don’t just stop, and ask what is next.”
Van der Burgh and Le Clos were the two big draw cards at the African Swimming Championships in Bloemfontein taking time signing autographs and taking photos for adoring fans.
Le Clos won the 100m butterfly in a time of 52.44 seconds, and will next travel to the Singapore for the seventh leg of the Fina World Cup series.
“I was in Dubai four days ago, Durban for two days, Bloem for two days, and I am racing in Singapore in three days’ time,” Le Clos said.
“I was shocked by my time, if I had swum 54-zero I would have been happy, so this is a lot quicker than I had expected.”
He was followed by Egyptian Mohamed Samy in a time of 54.91s with fellow South African Alard Basson touching in third place with 55.04s.
Van der Burgh in turn had no issues dealing with the altitude winning the 50m breaststroke in a new championship record of 28.05s.
He was followed by compatriot Michael Houlie in 28.63s.
It was a successful day for South Africa with the team losing only one of the eight finals on the second day of the championships winning a total of 11 gold medals since the start of the gala on Sunday.
The Star