World Cup champion Chad le Clos, coached by Graham Hill, clocked another London 2012 qualifier in semis at South African nationals in Durban with a 1:55.30 in the 200m butterfly.
The time, well inside the 1:56.86 cut, places Le Clos at third in the world so far this year just ahead of the season best of untapered Olympic champion Michael Phelps:
- 1:54.01 Takeshi Matsuda (JPN)
- 1:54.71 Nick D'Arcy (AUS)
- 1:55.30 Chad les Clos (RSA)
- 1:55.32 Michael Phelps (USA)
- 1:55.39 Kazuya Kaneda (JPN)
South African record holder, on 1:54.51 from 2009, Sebastien Rousseau, was next through to the final in Durban on 1:57.63.
Le Clos skipped the final of the 200m free after posting a London 2012 cut of 1:47.20 in the semi yesterday. In the final, the target 1:47.82, Darian Townsend missed the mark by 0.06sec for the title, with Rousseau on 1:48.69 and Jean Basson on 1:48.70, South Africa likely to have a 4x200m quartet on the blocks in London this summer.
Having already raced inside Olympic target time in semis yesterday, Charl Crous shaved a further 0.02sec off his best 100m back for a 54.17 victory, with Darren Murray improving to 54.80 for silver but just outside the London cut.
Kathryn Meaklim also raced inside A cut for the Games in semis with a 2:13.33 in the 200m medley, but in the 100m breaststroke, Suzaan van Biljon's 1:08.76 victory as the sole 1:10 in the race fell 0.28sec shy of the required time.
In the women's 100m backstroke, the target 1:00.82, Karin Prinsloo clocked 1:01.52, after 1:01.15 in semis, for victory.
