Chad fastest in 100m butterfly

LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 30, Chad le Clos of South Africa during the Mens 200m butterfly final at the Aquatic Centre on July 31, 2012 in London, England Photo by Roger Sedres / Gallo Images

LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 30, Chad le Clos of South Africa during the Mens 200m butterfly final at the Aquatic Centre on July 31, 2012 in London, England Photo by Roger Sedres / Gallo Images

Published Aug 2, 2012

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London – Chad Le Clos continued his fine form in the pool when he posted the fastest semifinal qualifying time in the men's 100m butterfly heats at the Olympic Games on Thursday morning.

Le Clos won his heat in 51.54 seconds, placing him in pole position for Thursday night's semi-finals.

The 20-year-old South African, who won gold in the men's 200m butterfly on Tuesday, withdrew from the 100m individual medley final, which will be held later Thursday, in order to focus on the butterfly, his specialty stroke.

American Michael Phelps, the silver medallist behind Le Clos in the 200m final, was second fastest of the qualifiers in the 100m heats in 51.72.

Meanwhile, three-time Olympic medallist Roland Schoeman and countryman Gideon Louw both qualified for the men's 50m freestyle semi-finals.

Schoeman, who secured the bronze medal in the same event at the Athens Games in 2004, won his heat in 21.92 seconds, qualifying fifth fastest for the semi-finals, while Louw was 11th fastest in a time of 22:12.

Karin Prinsloo also progressed to Thursday night's semi-finals, finishing fifth in her women's 200m backstroke heat and qualifying 13th fastest in two minutes, 10.34 seconds (2:10.34).

Wendy Trott failed in her bid to qualify for the women's 800m freestyle final, finishing fourth in her heat in 8:28:98. – Sapa

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