Is Chad Le Clos toying with his rivals, or is he really struggling to find the right pace in the 200m freestyle?

Le Clos clocked a 1min 45.89sec personal best in the afternoon heats on Sunday, but then slowed slightly to 1:45.94 in the evening, although he still qualified for Monday night’s final (3.21am Tuesday SA time) with the seventh-best time. 

In the semifinal he torpedoed out on the first 100m, his first 50m was inside world record pace. 

He had opened up a massive lead but then seemingly tired drastically on the second half. 

“I think that was a bit too fast, to be honest,” Le Clos said. 

“I just want to get out there, it’s always hard because you’ve got the best guys in the world and I’m not really a great freestyler,” said Le Clos, who begins defending his Olympic 200m butterfly crown on Tuesday. 

“I struggled a bit, you know I don’t know what to do. 

“This morning I turned for the 100m and I’m like ‘whoa, what do I do here?’ I’ve never been so far ahead, ever in my whole life. 

“I’ve just got to get that right. I’ve still got to find the right [pace]. I like to race, I like to race from behind and [now] I’m in front. I’m like really, I don’t know what to do now.”

But is Le Clos, the reigning 200m world short-course champion in this event, really struggling to find his pace, or is trying to play mind games with the favourite, China’s Sun Yang?

Le Clos insisted he was battling to work out the pace. 

“I was definitely hurting a bit, of course. I knew that. 

“This morning was tiring as well. I just feel I’ve got to slightly pace it better and then it’ll be better. It was slightly too fast.

“I’m happy I’m in the final … a medal would be unbelievable.”​