Johannesburg – Four years ago it was the big upset in the swimming pool, and this time around the men’s 200m butterfly could live up once again to be one of the highlights of the Rio Olympic Games.
The stage is set for an epic battle in the men’s 200m butterfly as South Africa’s defending champion Chad le Clos is set to face iconic American swimmer Michael Phelps for the first time since he so spectacularly out-touched the most decorated Olympian for the crown.
Although it can be billed as the Phelps-Le Clos rematch, it would be wrong to narrow the race down to a two-horse race to the wall.
Hungarian Laszlo Cseh has been making serious waves over the last two years, and also has some unfinished business in the 200m butterfly event at the Olympic Games.
Four years before Le Clos pulled a rabbit out of the bag to beat Phelps by just 0.05 seconds in London, Cseh suffered a similar defeat to the American in Beijing for a silver medal.
Cseh boasts a world-leading time of 1:52.91 with Le Clos’ season’s best of 1:54.42 from the Mare Nostrum series in Barcelona ranked fourth.
Le Clos, who will be chasing after medals in the 100m and 200m butterfly, and the 200m freestyle, admits he is facing a mammoth task defending his title.
“This is history. We will be making history in the 200m fly whether Phelps wins, whether Laszlo or I win or Seto wins or the youngster from Switzerland wins,” Le Clos said.
“There are a lot of guys that can put their hands up and win on the day; it is going to be an historic day whatever way you look at it. It is going to be a humdinger.”
Le Clos was recently named as one of only three global ambassadors for Coca-Cola’s Olympic campaign.
With less than a month to go until the opening of the quadrennial showpiece, Le Clos said the excitement in the build-up to his second Olympics has reached fever pitch.
“It (the excitement) is a bit early this year. I think it started a few days ago when the US Olympic trials began. There is just such a buzz among everyone in the South African team.
“I’ve been excited for a long time, I’ve been excited since World Champs last year, to be honest, and I am just happy to be a part of this.
“It is such a huge honour to represent my country at the Olympics. And it’s pretty awesome to think it’s already my second Games.”
Le Clos and the majority of the swimming team will be making final adjustments to their preparations at a camp in Fort Lauderdale in the US.
While Le Clos has been the top butterfly swimmer since winning the 200m title and the 100m silver medal in London, he has emerged as an equally strong freestyler.
Last year he finished sixth in the 200m freestyle final at the Fina World Championships in Kazan, Russia. “The 200 freestyle is something we will also be looking to give a bash at. I had a good Mare Nostrum, swimming a 1:47.1 which was a season’s best,” Le Clos said.
“I feel that if I have a really exceptional race and squeak a medal that would be fantastic.
“I am obviously not a big freestyle swimmer but you never know. Once I am in a final over the last 20 metres or so you can see it happen.”
(Le Clos was speaking exclusively to Independent Newspapers in his capacity as a Coca-Cola ambassador)
– THE SUNDAY INDEPENDENT