Johannesburg - Chad le Clos shrugged off the disappointment from the Rio Olympics for a piece of redemption as he smashed the 100m butterfly record at the Fina World Short-Course Championships in Windsor, Canada on Friday.
The London 2012 champion moved closer to completing another fly treble, adding the 100m gold to his 200m win earlier this week.
Le Clos came close to becoming the first swimmer to dip below 48 seconds in the 100m butterfly when he chopped 0.36s off his previous best.
It was one of his most dominant performances ever, touching the wall in 48.08, nearly a second ahead of American Tom Shields.
“I expected to maybe get close to the record, I thought I’d be just off again but it all happened in the final,” Le Clos said.
“You obviously have to be a bit fortunate to get the world (record), but breaking by almost 40 splits is quite a long time. It is exciting and I am very proud.”
Shields posted 49.04 with Australia’s David Morgan finishing third in 49.31.
“The Olympics was not so good for me, I responded in the right way that I said I would, and I believe next year is going to be great,” Le Clos said.
“I made a lot of mistakes, no excuses. There are reasons why it didn’t go according to plan but I will not make an excuse ever...”
Le Clos’ victory was his third consecutive 100m butterfly world title, while he won as many gold medals in his signature 200m event.
The double world-record holder became the first swimmer to win the 50m, 100m, and 200m butterfly titles two years ago, while adding the 200m freestyle gold. Earlier this week, he surrendered his 200m freestyle title to Korean Taehwan Park.
Yesterday’s victory was the confidence boost Le Clos needed after he suffered an ego-crushing defeat in his the 200m butterfly in Rio.
Childhood hero turned arch-rival, Michael Phelps, wrested the title from the South African, who came in fourth.
Le Clos redeemed himself in the 100m butterfly at the Games, sharing silver with Phelps and Hungarian Laszlo Cseh. Singapore’s Joseph Schooling claimed gold.
When Le Clos realised he set a new world record yesterday, he screamed before slapping the water in celebration.
His victories in Canada will give him the confidence he so desperately needs going into next year’s World Long-Course Swimming Championships in Budapest.
“Come Tokyo (2020 Olympics) I will be on top of the podium and next year’s world champs are very important to me in that 200m fly,” Le Clos said.
Shortly before the Olympics, Le Clos announced that his mother Geraldine’s breast cancer had returned, after she went into remission in 2010, and had a double mastectomy.
Also, his father Bert was diagnosed with prostate cancer.
“It’s been a hard year for me, there is no secret about that, and this world record was for my mom and my dad, and the rest of the family,” he said.