Chad le Clos’ deep waters of depression - The South African swimmer went through a dip in performance last year after a traumatic experience left him struggling mentally.
He’ll never reveal what happened but Chad le Clos went through an experience so harrowing early last year that it left him in an extremely dark place. It was a place not even the joy of swimming – and winning – could reach and he eventually had to seek help to get back on his feet and back in the pool.
But with the mental stress he was under last year, that bubble burst. Le Clos walked away from the Olympic Games in Tokyo empty-handed. He finished fifth in the 200m butterfly final and didn’t even make it out of the heats in the 100m butterfly. In his place it was Tatjana Schoenmaker who was hailed as the Olympic hero having claimed gold and silver in the 200m and 100m breaststroke respectively.
“Tatjana became a superstar – and rightfully so – I’m not upset about that at all, and Matthew [Sates] won the World Cup and I’m over the moon for them. It’s not about them at all, it’s about me and who I am as a person and not having that and being so low after that.” South Africa’s Chad Le Clos reacts after the swimming men’s 100m freestyle final during the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games at the Optus Aquatic Centre in the Gold Coast on April 8, 2018
It was only after the Olympics that Le Clos sought the help he needed. He went through intense eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing therapy to work through his traumatic experience. “I only started to speak to someone after the Olympics – biggest mistake of my life – and I started getting myself right again. I was in a dark place, even after the Olympics. I was super depressed.
“The main thing is that I’m good, everyone is good, I’m on my way back. I’m doing the right things… I still believe I’ve got a lot of fight left in me. I’ve had a great career, but I don’t think I’m done by any means.”
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