100th Virgin Active health club opening has Gold Olympic medalist Chad le Clos

100th Virgin Active club opening

Gold Olympic medalist Chad le Clos talks to us about his future career and business plans at Virgin Active’s 100th club opening in Balfour Park, Johannesburg.

It was a bold move on Virgin Active’s part to secure the presence of newly crowned Olympic gold medallist Chad le Clos for the grand opening of their state-of-the-art gym. Although Le Clos now enjoys celebrity status, his visit to the gym did not overshadow the milestone achieved by Virgin Active.

Le Clos said he was proud to be a part of Virgin Active and was overwhelmed at the support he had received since his return from the Olympics. “When Cameron (van der Burgh) and I walked down the runway at the airport we were not prepared to see 12 000 people welcome us back. Thank you for all the support.”

On his future plans, Le Clos shared that he endeavours to focus on local sports development and to encourage corporate South Africa to sponsor swimming.

“One is not born an Olympic champion, swimming takes time to get right. I’d like to spend time developing mainstream swimming and exploring opportunities. I spend five months of the year travelling so it can be difficult, but I’d also like to study for a qualification in marketing,” said Le Clos.

In addition Le Clos said his father, Bert le Clos, and his agent were managing his finances. Le Clos added he had decided to invest a portion of his money in property.

Managing Director of Virgin Active Health Clubs, Ross Faragher-Thomas, said R60 million had been invested in the Balfour Park branch. According to Faragher-Thomas, Virgin had spent over R3 billion building, upgrading and maintaining its current infrastructure across all its local gyms. However, Ross-Faragher said he was particularly excited about this gym.

“It’s a fantastic milestone and a huge vote of confidence, bringing with it growth opportunities in the health and fitness market. We have had the privilege of doing well and being able to open this gym in a tough consumer market.

The package that we are bringing to the market is reasonable in terms of value for money. There’s free wi-fi and state-of-the art equipment. It’s quite affordable and customers will get a great experience, with amazing staff and service.”