Olympic swimming champion Chad Le Clos visited Cobham on Wednesday, and couldn’t resist jumping in the pool to race some of our youngsters.
The South African, who is now Olympic 200m butterfly champion, dropped by to tour the facilities at the training ground, and spoke at length with Petr Cech before taking to the water to face the relay team of Adam Phillip, Todd Kane, Sam Walker and Lucas Piazon.
Suffice to say, the boys gave him a good race, but there was no stopping the 20-year-old, who also spoke to Chelsea TV.
‘I think my dad is going to be very jealous when he finds out I was here,’ he said, referring to his father Bert, who is now a YouTube sensation after a celebratory TV interview with the BBC. ‘My father has been my biggest fan my whole life, and he’s always been like that, even watching me play soccer when I was a nine, 10-year-old back in the day.
‘When I won the gold I slept with it for three days straight, and only took it off to race. It’s going to take me a while to get these off!
‘There aren’t words to describe how it feels, it’s overwhelming. I came into these Games not expecting to win, and to beat my hero, Michael Phelps, someone I almost love, I never thought it was possible.’
Le Clos is also a football fan, and discussed how Chelsea are seen in South Africa.
‘It’s unebelievable!’ he said. ‘There are so many more Chelsea fans where I am from after that [Champions League] win. Every Saturday we have bars and clubs, with huge parties when there is a game on.’
You can see the full interview with Chad by subscribing to Chelsea TV.