Olympic silver medallist Chad le Clos blew any chance of medalling in the 100m butterfly at the Fina World Championships in Budapest, Hungary on Friday, writes MARK ETHERIDGE.

Having won gold in the 200m butterfly on Wednesday it was all woe for Le Clos as he failed to even make the final.

He placed a distant seventh in the first of two semi-finals in the Duna Arena with a time of 51.48 seconds. The heat was won by Olympic champion Joseph Schooling, the Singapore swimmer clocking 50.78.

The first semi was the slower of the two semi’s as American Caeleb Dressel blitzed to a 50.07 win in the second.

When the ripples had receded after the two semi-finals there was no place for Le Clos, world champion in this event at the last two editions of the event.

His 51.48 put him 12th of the 16 semi-finalists and he would have needed a time 0.17sec quicker to even book a place in the final, let alone be a contender.

Le Clos’ failure to advance means South Africa’s chances of any further medal are few and far between. To date, Le Clos’s gold and Cameron van der Burgh’s bronze in the 50m breaststroke are their only return at these championships.

At the last championships in Kazan, Russia two years ago they won five medals to finish 11th on the medals table.

After Friday’s action the rainbow nation will have to reflect on finishing a lot lower than that, sitting in 14th spot currently.

Photo: Roger Sedres/ImageSA