Reinvigorated Chad le Clos Chasing All-Time Medals Records at Commonwealth Champs
Go back to the 2010 edition of the Commonwealth Games. The likes of Canadian Brent Hayden and South African Cameron van der Burgh excelled in men’s competition. On the women’s side, Aussie Alicia Coutts totaled five gold medals, while Great Britain’s Rebecca Adlington and Australia’s Leisel Jones won a pair of solo titles each. All have been retired for several years.
That meet in Delhi also included Chad le Clos. While the South African was two years shy of topping Michael Phelps in the 200-meter butterfly at the Olympic Games in London, the teenager announced his presence with victories in the 200 fly and 400 individual medley. Now, 16 years later, a 34-year-old le Clos is preparing to compete in his fifth Commonwealth Games, scheduled for later this month in Glasgow.
Le Clos heads to Scotland needing just one medal to stand alone as the most-decorated male athlete in Commonwealth Games history. He currently shares that honor at 18 medals with Australian Phillip Adams and England’s Mick Gault, both sport shooters. More, le Clos is only two podium finishes short of equaling the overall medals record, held by Australian swimmer Emma McKeon at 20.
How le Clos will fare at this summer’s Commonwealth Games will largely depend on how his body holds up. The veteran has battled through injuries in recent years, including struggles with his shoulder and back. Yet, as he told Olympics.com in a recent interview, he is confident from a mental perspective, and believes he can still flourish in the pool.
“My mind is strong,” le Clos said in the Olympics.com interview. “If this race was in the mind, I’d beat all these guys, no problem. I’m the strongest guy here mentally. That’s what I believe. In my mind, I’m always No. 1. I’ve always been No. 1, so it’s not about where I think I can go. It’s just about if the body can let me do that, too.
“I will keep going. I’ll keep going until the body doesn’t let me. I’m not afraid of these guys. I’m not afraid of any of these big boys, so to speak. I know in the final, under those lights, if we have the similar level, I’ll be able to get the touch.”
Le Clos has never been one to doubt himself, and his comments about his mental state confirm his belief that additional international success is within reach. After taking six months off following the 2024 Olympics in Paris, he returned to training and had a strong showing at last fall’s World Cup series in North America. He is hopeful that success will carry into the summer. Le Clos has adjusted his training program with age, logging fewer meters in the pool while amping up his work in the weight room.
A four-time Olympic medalist, le Clos is looking ahead to the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. It would be a fifth Olympiad.
“It just gave me a lot of confidence because at the end of the day, if you can be in a good environment, you can be happy. You can have the right training. I think you can have good results into your 30s. That’s my belief,” Le Clos told Olympics.com. It was just about the body, really. It’s more about the fact that I’ve had a lot of injuries in my career, so I needed the six months just to let everything reset. And I feel good. I feel really good now.”
