Antonopoulos eyes Midmar Mile redemption after seeding swim victory

Carli Antonopoulos is determined to turn the tragedy of last year's aQuellé Midmar Mile into triumph at this year's race in KZN, after a broken arm sustained at the dam derailed her title ambitions.

Victory in the final seeding swim for the event at Prime View Adventure & Leisure in Midrand on Sunday confirmed that the Pretoria swimmer will take same catching, her time of 14:53 in the mixed 1.2km event good enough for fifth place overall. Kirsty Andraos was the second-placed woman in 15:32, with Loghan Gray third in15:35.

Though Antonopoulos was thrilled with the victory, particularly after taking on the 10km race on Saturday, she knows the challenge awaiting her at next month’s Midmar Mile will be formidable, with this weekend’s 10km and 3km winner Callan Lotter looming as a serious contender. 

“Callan's doing really well at the moment, but to be honest, I've swum enough Midmars to know that it can be anyone's race. There are many years that we've had favourites go into the race and we've had some upsets. So, I think on the day it's anyone's race, no matter who's actually ahead," Antonopoulos said.

Matthew Caldwell just pipped Henré Louw to the overall win in a time of 14:28, with Sven van der Linde finishing third.

“It was quite a cool finish. I was expecting to have a bit of competition there from Henré, who's a great swimmer.

"We were next to each other most of the race, and it was just over the line. I got a tiny bit of a better run and I really committed to it,” said Caldwell.

Caldwill finished third, behind Louw and race winner Louis Clark of New Zealand in a thrilling sprint finish in last year's men's elite race, and boldly predicted a top three of himself, Louw and French contender Damien Joly at Midmar Dam this year.

The 53rd Midmar Mile will take place on February 7 and 8.