Cape Town - South Africa's Chad le Clos is set to settle for second in the FINA Swimming World Cup men's title, as Russia's Vladimir Morozov looks to win his maiden title.
In the second day of the penultimate leg of the competition, Le Clos bagged three medals to take his overall points tally to 462 and trails by 121 behind 24-year-old Morozov on 583.
On Wednesday, the South African recorded two golds in the 50m and 100m butterfly, and came 0.48 seconds short of Japan's Daiya Seto to finish second in the 200m butterfly.
Le Clos did not feature in any of the freestyle races.
Despite his destined second-place finish, the South African feels an affinity for the $2.1m competition and highlights it's purpose to improve on the smaller aspects of his game.
“I love the World Cup, it’s a great competition - being able to travel while getting some racing in. Of course, the money’s good, but it’s a good opportunity to improve the smaller things, your starts, get sharper. I’m excited for the final leg in Hong Kong, and excited for next year’s World Cup," he said, as quoted by the fina.org website.
Nonetheless, this year's Swimming World Cup campaign was not fruitless for the 24-year-old, as he became the first male swimmer ever to get 100 gold medals at the World Cup.
Le Clos is a three-time men's title winner, having won in 2011, 2013 and 2014.
The Swimming World Cup continues on October 29 in Hong Kong for the ninth and final leg.
Men's standings, overall:
1. MOROZOV Vladimir - 583
2. LE CLOS Chad - 462
3. SETO Daiya - 282
4. HEINTZ Philip - 267
5. HURLEY Bobby - 222