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Le Clos pleased with silver

London - SA swimmer Chad le Clos is happy with his "unexpected" silver medal in the 100m butterfly at the Olympic Games.

Le Clos won his second medal at the Games on Friday night when he finished second in the 100m butterfly.

"I'm pleased with the silver medal. I never expected that," Le Clos said.

"After the 200m gold everything came into place and I just felt I had a lot of confidence. Obviously I wanted to win the race, but I am not disappointed at all. I am happy."

The race was almost a repeat of Tuesday's 200m butterfly final when Le Clos beat 17-time Olympic gold medallist Michael Phelps to the wall.

Phelps, who made a mistake in the 200m butterfly final by gliding to the wall, managed not to repeat it and won the race with a time of 51.21.

Le Clos finished joint second with Russia's Evgeny Korotyshkin in a time of 51.44.

His silver medal swim signalled South Africa's most successful Games in the pool since the country's re-admittance to the Olympics in 1992.

Le Clos' silver adds to his gold from Tuesday, and the gold medal Cameron van der Burgh won in the 100m breaststroke last Saturday.

The 20-year-old Le Clos held back over the first lap and, as in the 200m butterfly, he opened the throttle over the last 25 metres.

Meanwhile, Roland Schoeman, competing in his fourth Olympic Games, finished sixth in the men's 50m freestyle in a time of 21.80.

Schoeman, the country's most decorated Olympian, won the bronze medal in the 50m freestyle, a silver in the 100m freestyle, and the gold medal with the 4x100m freestyle relay team at the Athens Games in 2004.

The South African swimming team's best performance was at the 1996 Atlanta Games, where Penny Heyns won gold medals in the 100m and 200m breaststroke, while Marianne Kriel won a bronze medal in the 100m backstroke.

At the Olympic Stadium, Khotso Mokoena, who was South Africa's only medallist at the last Olympic Games in Beijing four years ago, qualified for the men's long jump final with a leap of 8.02m. His was the fifth-best jump.

In sailing, the men's 470 pair of Roger Hudson and Asenathi Jim improved considerably in their second race of the day, to finish in 20th place, after finishing last earlier in the day.

Their fourth race overall saw them improve their overall standing by one place, moving off the bottom of the table.

South Africa had a disappointing morning on the seventh day of competition at the Games on Friday.

The South African team got off to a poor start on the athletics track after their countrymen had shone in the pool earlier in the week. One-lap hurdlers LJ van Zyl and Cornel Fredericks were both knocked out in the first round of the men's 400m hurdles.

Van Zyl, the 2011 World Championships bronze medallist, who struggled with a knee injury this season, faded in the finishing straight to cross the line sixth in his heat, in 50.31 seconds.

Fredericks, fifth at last year's global championships, looked flat from the start and trailed home in eighth place in his heat in 52.29.

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