Rio De Janeiro - He may have had his wind knocked out in in the 200m butterfly final but coach Graham Hill believes Chad le Clos will pick himself up again for the 100m event.
Le Clos suffered a shock defeat finishing in the dreaded fourth-place position with arch-rival American swimming icon Michael Phelps reclaimed the title he conceded to the South African four years ago.
It was billed as possibly the matchup of the Olympics, and it did not disappoint as the drama unfolded in spectacular fashion.
Turning in second place behind Phelps it looked like a repeat from London 2012 would play out in front of a boisterous crowd.
The realisation soon sunk in that Le Clos would not only lose his crown but a podium place altogether touching in fourth place with Phelps winning in 1:53.36.
His coach Graham Hill said everything had gone according to plan over the first three laps but somehow managed to see the title and a medal slip out of his hands.
“At the 150m mark he was good 1:20.33 that’s where we wanted to be, and he just didn't have it to come home,” Hill said.
“It was a big race, and hats off to Michael the true champion that he is, and he really put up a big show tonight and held it over the last 50 metres.
“It just wasn't Chad’s night tonight, and he still has the 100m butterfly to come so I am sure he will be back and challenging on Friday night.”
Sakai touched in a time of 1:53.40 while Kenderesi posting a time of 1:53.62 with Le Clos hitting the wall in 1:54.06.
To add insult to injury Le Clos looked up to the results on the big screen showing Masato Sakai of Japan and Hungary’s Tamas Kenderesi ahead of him in second and third place respectively.
Sakai clocked a time of 1:52.03 while Kenderesi posted a time of 1:53.62 with Le Clos touching in 1:54.06.
Olympic gold medallist and SuperSport pundit Ryk Neethling believed it was the last time Le Clos would feature in the 200m butterfly at a major championship.
“In my humble opinion I think this is the last time we will see Chad swim the 200m fly at a major event,” Neethling said.
“I think he is going to be a great 100m freestyler, he is going to get bigger and stronger, it is also a much easier race to train for than the 200m butterfly, it is an animal.”
Le Clos has already demonstrated he was a world-class 200m freestyle swimmer winning the Olympic silver medal coming close to the title the night before the 200m butterfly.
At the first leg of the Fina Swimming World Cup in France last year, Le Clos unleashed a new personal best time in the 100m freestyle clocking 48.16 seconds which was also the sixth fastest time in 2015.
Neethling, was a member of the “awesome foursome” that won the gold medal in the 4x100m freestyle relay at the 2004 Athens Games in world-record time.
He believed Le Cos could dominate the blue-riband event in years to come turning his focus on the 100m, 200m freestyle, and the 100m butterfly events.
“After he won the 200m freestyle silver medal I thought it was obvious he is in good shape swimming a personal best while his butterfly has been good throughout the season,” Neethling said.
“It was shock to me, I didn't expect that to happen, I haven't spoken to him yet but I think he may have focused too much on him and Phelps instead of focussing on his own race which he is good at.
“It is just one of those that you don’t know what happened.”
Neethling said the hype around the 200m butterfly had taken its toll on the swimmers with Phelps handling it better.
Hungarian world champion Laszlo Cseh was the other major casualty in the race finishing in a seventh place despite turning first after the first 50 metres.
“It is like this rivalry, this showdown in the 200m fly that just makes the guys crack, and all the talk on the pool deck,” he said.
“The coaches, everybody placing their bets, those kind of stuff weighs on you and it is not a normal race anymore.”
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