Le Clos leaves rivals dead in the water

09 June 2016 - 10:29 By DAVID ISAACSON

Sporting a sides-and-back Mohawk hairdo, Chad le Clos bagged South Africa's only victory in Canet, France, last night when he won the 100m butterfly in record time.He clocked 51.56sec to improve his own mark for the Mare Nostrum series by two-hundredths of a second, comfortably beating second-placed Steffen Deibler of Germany in 51.91.But Cameron van der Burgh was, while duelling it out with his nearest rivals in the middle of the pool, blindsided on the far side by veteran Brazilian Felipe Franca da Silva, who clinched the 100m breaststroke.Van der Burgh, the Olympic champion in this event, took the early lead in lane three. But after coming out of the turn he was caught in a tussle with Russia's European Games champion Anton Chupkov in lane five and Scotland's world championship bronze medallist Ross Murdoch in lane four.Out of sight in lane seven, veteran Franca da Silva came storming through in the second lap and touched first in 1min 00.11.Van der Burgh, who pulled out of the first Mare Nostrum gala in Monaco at the weekend because of illness, was second in 1:00.26, with Chupkov of Russia third in 1:00.38 and Murdoch fourth in 1:00.46. Jarred Crous, the other South African swimmer in the race, was seventh in 1:01.01.South Africa's head coach for the Rio Olympics has warned that careful planning is vital if Caster Semenya is to successfully complete a Games double in August.Frank Dick, a former head coach of the British track and field team employed by the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee to maximise high performance, is cautious about Semenya attempting more than her specialist 800m.Even Semenya's mentor, Jean Verster, believes his charge should focus on the two-lapper, but says a final decision on a double at the Olympics - whether it be the 400m or 1500m - had yet to be made...

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