Chad le Clos, 27, South Africa, Swimmer
He joined a swimming club when he was eight years old, started swimming competitively aged 10 and by the age of 14 he had already made the senior Olympic squad.
At the age of 18, he held two senior South African records, Commonwealth Junior and Senior records and also competed at the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in Singapore, where he won five medals. In 2010 he won gold in every major event he competed in, including the 200m ‘fly at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi and the FINA Short Course World Championships in Dubai.
In 2016, Chad became South Africa’s most decorated Olympian, winning two silver medals at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in the 200m freestyle and 100m butterfly. He then went on to win three gold medals at the FINA World Championships (SC) in Windsor in December 2016.
