Chad le Clos proved he is well and truly back, completing his domination of the 100m butterfly at the FINA Swimming World Cup series with a convincing victory at the final leg of the competition in Indianapolis, USA on Thursday night.
With that he also collected the triple-crown bonus of US$ 10,000 for winning all three titles in the event, in Berlin, Toronto and Indianapolis.
The 30-year-old led from start to finish and was never really challenged on Thursday, stopping the clock at 48.85 seconds.
His closest rival was Japan’s Takeshi Kawamoto, who originally finished second but was disqualified for a non-simultaneous turn at the 75m mark, leaving the minor places to Canadian Ilya Kharun (49.93) and German Marius Kusch (49.97).
“I’m very happy,” said a thrilled Le Clos. “Again, it was a 48 [second time] so I can’t complain. I was a little nervous coming to the final leg, racing such a world-class field. I think this morning [the heats] was very stressful because we had to go very fast to make it back so that’s a credit to the US and the depth that they have here.
“So I’m very, very happy,” added Le Clos who looked even more pleased with the crown he was presented along with his bonus cheque.
Four other swimmers claimed the triple-crown bonus on Thursday night in Indianapolis – Poland’s Kasia Wasick (50m freestyle), American Shaine Casas (200m backstroke), Trinidad and Tobago’s Dylan Carter (men’s 50m freestyle) and American Nic Fink (100m breaststroke).
Earlier in the evening, it was a disappointing start to the final leg of the competition for SA teenager Matt Sates, who was also gunning for the three-peat bonus in the 400m freestyle after victories in Berlin and Toronto.
Having comfortably won those opening two races, the 19-year-old never looked in it in the US. Like the previous races, he held back in the first half of the race but there was no characteristic kick at the end.
Sates finished well out of it in fifth place in 3:41.02 (compared to his African record 3:36.30 in Berlin). American Kieran Smith was first in 3:35.99 with Lithuanian Danas Rapsys second in 3:37.50 and another American, Jake Magahey, third in 3:38.02.
Smith said afterwards: “I’ve been chasing a win for three weeks and it was really important to get it done here on home soil in Indy – it’s one of my favourite pools and I executed the best of the three weeks so far.”
Sates has one more chance to claim the triple-crown bonus – in the 400m individual medley on Saturday.
At the end of the first night of action in Indianapolis, the Maritzburg swimmer, who is looking to defend his overall World Cup title, had dropped out of the top three in the rankings to fifth spot, while Le Clos occupies fourth place. Casas, who along with his backstroke victory also claimed the win in the 100m individual medley on Thursday, currently tops the rankings