ROLL ON 2021!

Chad le Clos tells us how he’s coping with lockdown and of his Olympic hopes

- MARISA FOCKEMA

HE’S used to training in an Olympic-size swimming pool, doing lap after lap in a sleek 50m slab of water complete with ripple-free lanes and starting blocks.

But these days you’ll find him in a 14m pool at his family home in Durban – but he’s doing his best to stay fit, Chad le Clos says.

The show must go on – even if that show is being delayed by the coronavirus.

For four years Chad has been training with one goal in mind and one goal only: Olympic glory in Japan.

Now, of course, the Games have been postponed until next year and Chad, one of the best swimmers South Africa – and the world – has ever seen, is having to adjust his mindset.

“Ten days ago, I was in the best shape of my life,” Chad (28) tells us via video chat during the heart of the lockdown period.

“It’s sad I won’t get to see how the preparation has paid off. It’s definitely gone a little bit to waste.”

But he’s made his peace with the new date for the Games, which will be held in Tokyo from 23 July to 8 August 2021.

“The health of millions of people is more important than success in the swimming pool,” Chad says

At the end of last month, his Olympic training schedule was disrupted when he had to vacate his training base in Antalya, Turkey, because of the spread of Covid-19.

It was a bitter pill to swallow but he realizes there was no way the Games could go ahead. “Many athletes would’ve been exposed to risk and the playing field wouldn’t have been even,” he says.