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Chad le Clos shares his life and hardships in new documentary

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Chad le Clos (AFP)

The world is waiting with bated breath for Olympic Gold Medalist Chad le Clos to take on arch-rival Michael Phelps in the pool at the 2016 Olympics Games in Rio in seven days’ time, competing for the coveted gold once again.

Parents battling cancer

The road to Rio has been an extremely challenging one for Chad and his family. They recently received the news that dad Bert le Clos has been diagnosed with prostate cancer and that his mother Geraldine’s breast cancer has returned.

In a recent statement, released on 13 July, Chad confirmed that his parents are both battling cancer. 

Read: Chad le Clos opens up about his parents' battle with cancer

Discovery invited Health24 to a preview screening of the documentary entitled Unbelievable: The Chad le Clos story – in which Chad opens up about the hardship the family is enduring, and how tremendously challenging it is for everyone to cope with the devastating news of both parents’ cancer, especially since the Olympic Games are a mere week away.

The gripping documentary detailing Chad’s life takes the viewer on a journey from his beginnings as the wayward little boy with his wonderful talent for swimming, to showcasing his current demanding training schedule.

'I'll make them proud'

In spite of the hard times that the le Clos family are experiencing, Chad remains optimistic about his chances: “I want to take SA swimming to a new level and hope to inspire a generation of youngsters to follow in my footsteps.

“It has definitely been the most difficult few months of my life – family-wise, the swimming, the pressure from the Olympic Games; it’s all kind of come together, but in saying that I feel like I’ve never trained as hard as I am now, and I feel their sickness is pushing me through.”

He ends off by saying, “If you’re swimming for something bigger than yourself you can achieve great things. I’ll always swim for my family, I will always swim for my supporters and I feel at the end of the day I will make them proud.”

Watch the full documentary here: 

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