Chad Le Clos earns Men’s 200m freestyle gold: Day two – 2011 Swimming World Cup, Tokyo
Chad Le Clos of South Africa served notice of his talent by earning the title of Men’s 200m freestyle final on second day of the 2011 Swimming World Cup in Tokyo, Japan on Sunday, November 13.
Tokyo is the last stop of 2011 Swimming World Cup series, organised by the international aquatics sport governing body, Federation Internationale de Natation (FINA).
Le Clos, who qualified as the fourth finest swimmer into the final round, overwhelmed the efforts of his strongest rival, Takeshi Matsuda of Japan in playoff.
The 19-year-old Le Clos faced a neck-to-neck competition from Japanese rival while the two of them demonstrated their astonishing efforts in front of the aquatic crowd.
The South African emerged as the strong contender for gold medal in the first lap of the race, where his remarkable start placed him marginally ahead of his opponents. He completed his first round in a top ranked time of 23.70 seconds.
With his incredible effort, he remained 0.94 seconds ahead of Matsuda, who covered the same distance in a time of 24.64 seconds. The Japanese was followed by his team-mate, Syogo Hihara, who clocked an effort of 24.67 seconds.
Le Clos cemented his place for gold finish in second round, where he extended his lead to a distance of 1.12 seconds from Japanese challenger, completing his second round in a time of 49.86 seconds. Matsuda sustained his second fastest spot in first half by submitting a time of 50.98 seconds.
Matsuda kept following lead of South African in third round, but the Japanese turned wild in the final round, producing a head-to-head battle. Le Clos out-touched his competitor on the finishing end, reporting a time of 1 minute and 43.79 seconds for gold medal.
Subsequently, Matsuda ended second with a wonderful effort of 1 minute and 43.99 seconds. He was trailed by Hihara, who reached the podium for bronze medal by touching the wall in a nice time of 1 minute and 44.69 seconds.
In addition, the arena appreciated commendable efforts of all position holders while the winners received medals for their dazzling efforts after the completion of final session.
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