Chad le Clos has made the biggest decision of his life by splitting with his coach of 14 years, Graham Hill.

I don’t pretend to know what happened, if anything, to create the split, but Le Clos was generous in his praise to the man who has been with him since the age of 10.

‘I would like to thank Graham for all his hard work, his advice and his friendship. I’ve been fortunate to have one of the best swimming coaches in the world living so close to my family home in Durban. It has been an incredible journey together and he and his family will always remain good friends,’ Le Clos said in making the announcement.

What I do know is that, in the last six years that I have attended major championships where they have been together – and largely dominated the opposition – Hill was like a second skin to the 2012 Olympic champion. The pair formed one of the best double acts in sport, and there they were, ‘Made in Durban’. I have subsequently heard whispers that the swimmer wants to relocate to Cape Town

Hill’s presence in the swimmer’s life was akin to that of a second father, with complete respect to Bert, who has lived the dream with his son over the years and his now battling cancer, with his son at his side. Hill and Le Clos were, and will remain, close.

Yet, the split surely has to have something to do with the swimmer’s Rio 2016 return? Le Clos had arrived at his second Olympics in what he said, repeatedly, was ‘the best shape of my life’. And, in that shape he produced what he, unprompted, called ‘the worst performance of my career’, in finishing fourth behind Michael Phelps in the men’s 200m butterfly final.

I wrote that Le Clos had ‘poked the bear’, after winning silver in the 200m freestyle and then standing in Phelps’ face, shadow boxing, in the ready room before the 200m butterfly semi-final. Whether intended or not, the gesture had come across as arrogant, and the South African didn’t warm himself to the international media when he refused to speak to them after finishing fourth in the subsequent final.

It was only the next day in Rio that Le Clos fronted up and, to his credit, apologised for the snub and praised Phelps. Tellingly, the swimmer added that ‘there have been at least five things worse that have happened to me the past year than this [defeat]’. And that’s the context.

Those who spend much of their time in the glare of the public and media eye deserve to have private lives. And, the expression ‘what goes on tour stays on tour’ is one that also needs to be respected by outsiders. Even swimmers can’t be expected to spend their lives in a goldfish bowl.

What I do know is that Hill was very good for Le Clos and vice-versa. The pair fed off each other’s enthusiasm, energy, talent and quirks. Perhaps it was ‘time’ for them to go their separate ways in a professional sense, and perhaps Le Clos feels that he needs some new direction as he embarks on the next four-year cycle that leads him to Tokyo 2020.

They shared moments, memories and many stories that won’t be told, rightly so, in any book, but, as a team they brought so much joy and light into the lives of ordinary South Africans. What I do know is that four years ago, after London 2012, it was always going to be a case of when, not if, Le Clos and Hill parted ways, amicably. I know that because I wrote it.

Losing his Olympic title – even though two more silvers took his tally to four, making him the most decorated South African Olympic swimmer of all-time – will have stung Le Clos and made him more determined to fight back going into this new cycle.

He remains one of swimming’s superstars, a popular young man who will never accept defeat without giving everything he has. Le Clos is a champion in spirit, heart and performance. There isn’t a race that he enters that he doesn’t turn into a dogfight and to watch him in the 200m freestyle in Rio was a revelation.

I know that Hill and former Olympic gold medallist Ryk Neethling thought he could win that 200m gold. That he came back with the silver surprised the majority of onlookers, but not those two. Le Clos’ raw speed in that 200m that week showed that, when he ‘learns’ how to race that event at elite level properly, he can go on to dominate.

This is certainly not the end for Le Clos. In fact, it might only be the beginning. The same has to be said of Hill, who won’t be sitting on his laurels. Knowing him, he will already be working on the next generation of champions.