Dubai: Chad Le Clos said he needs a rematch with retired Michael Phelps to help him get over his Olympic heartbreak.
Le Clos famously beat Phelps to gold in the 200-metre butterfly at London 2012 but finished fourth to the American in the same event at Rio this summer.
Phelps retired by taking his record haul of 18 gold medals to 23, while the South African took just two silvers from Brazil, losing the 100-metre butterfly to Singapore’s Joseph Schooling and 200-metre freestyle to China’s Sun Yang.
“I wouldn’t say it was a successful Olympics, I wanted gold and thought I could win two or three to be honest,” said Le Clos, who is in Dubai for round five of the nine-stage Swimming World Cup, which starts at the Hamdan Sports Complex on Tuesday.
“Now I just want to get back on the winning train, I want the best guys to come here and I want to race them.
“I wish Phelps would come back, I’d do anything to have that. One of the reasons I started swimming was because of him.
“I could have done what 99 per cent of the guys have done and just stuck to breaststroke and medley but I wanted to race him.
“I wanted that Mayweather-Pacquiao bout and in some respects I got it, but the 200-metre butterfly in Rio was the worst race of my life.”
Phelps was famously pictured staring Le Clos out as the latter shadowboxed in front of him before the final, with the image becoming the meme of the Games.
“I would have loved to have beaten him in Rio but unfortunately that didn’t happen. If he could stick around another year I’d really appreciate it, because I believe I can take him out again.
“It’s 1-1, one for him in Rio and one for me in London, so I think we need a third one to see.”
Asked if he regretted competing in the Phelps era, Le Clos replied: “Not at all, if you look at all the other swimmers around the world, I’m probably one of the most famous swimmers for what I achieved because of Phelps.
“When I beat him in 2012 it boosted me to that level. In some ways I should say thank you to him because he gave me that level of fame.”
Both of Le Clos’ parents, mum Geraldine, and dad Bert — who found fame as an over-emotional pundit during London 2012 — have been battling cancer recently, but Chad refused to discuss whether that affected his Rio performance.
“I wouldn’t tell you even if it did, it’s not the way I was brought up. You win or lose, there’s no but to being Olympic champion.
“It was difficult, I can say that. It was the worst year in my life of course, but you know (that) more important is my parents’ health and I would give all my medals away to have them well again.”
And of young Schooling, who shocked both Le Clos and Phelps into a three-way tie for second with Laszlo Cseh in the 100-metre butterfly at Rio, he added: “I knew he was quick but not that quick. He smacked us out of the water to be honest, we got beaten properly.
“It’s good he’s young and coming through, he’ll be at least eight years in the game. The World Cup series goes to Singapore after Qatar next, so hopefully he’ll be there in his home pool and we’ll see what happens, I’m excited.”
