JOHANNESBURG – Chad le Clos will be looking to make further inroads in the Fina World Cup series in the final stop of the second cluster in Budapest from today to Saturday.
The South African swimming sensation was back to his best at last weekend’s Eindhoven leg where he won two gold and two silver medals.
His efforts in the Dutch city launched him into seventh place on the rankings and he will hope to climb higher in the Hungarian capital.
Russian Vladimir Morozov is currently leading the overall standings comfortably on 164 points and it would take a mammoth effort to unseat him with four galas left in the series.
Le Clos was unlucky not to walk away with a sweep of the butterfly events over the weekend when he won both the 100 and 200 metre distances.
Chad le Clos will be in action in Budapest from today. Photo: @chadleclos on twitter
He will have a second bite of the cherry in Budapest where he will be racing the 100m freestyle, and the 50m, 100m and 200m butterfly events.
Le Clos has been the most successful men's swimmer in the annual series after claiming a fourth overall title last year.
The South African contingent of 11 swimmers in Budapest includes Commonwealth Games silver medallist Brad Tandy and Ryan Coetzee.
Tandy earned a podium place in his pet 50m freestyle event in Eindhoven.
He will be looking to upgrade the silver to gold in Hungary, while he will also be competing in the 50m breaststroke and 50m butterfly events.
Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Coetzee could not quite repeat his successes of the first two legs of the series in Kazan and Doha.
Coetzee was South Africa’s only medallist in Doha, where he claimed the 100m butterfly silver and 50m butterfly bronze medals.
He will be looking to get back onto the podium in Budapest, racing the 50 and 100m freestyle, and the 50 and 100m butterfly.
The SA team also features Rio Olympian Doug Erasmus, who will be competing in the 50 and 100m freestyle and 50m butterfly.
The contingent includes three woman swimmers, spearheaded by Tayla Lovemore, who managed to get into the 100m butterfly final last weekend when she finished in fifth place.
@Ockertde
The Star