Olympic champion Chad Le Clos fought back hard on the final lap to snatch victory from Japan’s Daiya Seto in the 200m butterfly in Barcelona on Monday night.
After missing the podium in this event in the opening leg of the Mare Nostrum series in Canet at the weekend‚ the South African star bounced back with his trademark strong finish to clock the second-fastest time of the year so far.
He touched in 1min 54.90sec to finish 21-hundredths of a second in front of Seto‚ who boasts the quickest time of 2015 to date‚ a 1:54.46.
Seto‚ also the fastest in the world for 2014‚ and the ever-competitive Le Clos are gearing up for a titanic battle at the world championships in Kazan‚ Russia‚ in early August.
But SA’s other Olympic swimming champion‚ Cameron van der Burgh‚ had to settle for third spot in the 100m breaststroke.
He took an early lead‚ but by the time he got to the turn he was behind new world record-holder Adam Peaty and Japan’s Yasuhiro Koseki‚ the Pan Pacific champion.
Commonwealth Games champion Peaty touched first in 59.55 ahead of Koseki‚ in an outside lane‚ in 59.81. Van der Burgh registered 1:00.68.
Both Van der Burgh and Le Clos are not expected to achieve their best times while they are unshaved and untapered as they prepare for Kazan.
But the same is true of their rivals.
Le Clos also managed a minor placing in the 50m fly which was convincingly won by Benjamin Proud of England in 23.70.
Konrad Czerniak of Poland was second in 23.89‚ fractionally faster than the South African superstar in 23.92.
Compatriot Nico Meyer‚ the only other SA swimmer to make a final on the night‚ was sixth in 24.60.
RDM News Wire.
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