Sates defends FINA Swimming World Cup title, Le Clos aims to find form

Matthew Sates and Chad le Clos will be flying the South African flag high at the three-leg FINA Swimming World Cup set to get under way this week.

19-year-old Sates will look to defend his title after ending as the top male swimmer of the 2021 series.

Last season, Sates captured 13 gold medals, 4 silvers and 1 bronze and was named the Swimming World Cup MVP.

The teen represented South Africa at the Commonwealth Games, but could not reach the podium in Birmingham.

This season, Sates will compete across the three legs of this year's tour calendar and vie for the overall prize purse of $1.2 million.

"I am really looking forward to racing short course again after a nice, solid block of training at home," he told The Witness.

"I am just trying to keep my expectations in check and just focus on my own races and doing the best I can rather than worrying about being the defending champion."

The FINA Swimming World Cup kicks off on Friday (21-23 October) in Berlin before heading to Toronto (28-30 October) and Indianapolis (3-5 November).

Meanwhile, Le Clos will look to hoping to secure his fifth FINA World Championship win this season.

Le Clos became the most decorated male swimmer at the Commonwealth Games as he took silver in the 200m butterfly in Birmingham.

After only claiming the one Commonwealth medal, Le Clos switched coaches and teamed up with Dirk Lange from Germany, who once coached SA Olympian Cameron van der Burgh.

The World Cup will be used as preparation for the FINA World Championship Short Course set to get under way from 13-18 December in Melbourne.