Matthew Caldwell and Carli Antonopoulos made sure their names will be among the favourites for next month’s aQuellé Midmar Mile after their respective victories at the final seeding swim for the event at Prime View Adventure & Leisure in Midrand on Sunday.
It was a frantic sprint to the finish line for Caldwell, who just pipped Henré Louw to take the win in the mixed 1.2km event in 14 minutes and 28 seconds, with Louw second in 14:29.
Sven van der Linde came in third, in 14:36, with Antonopoulos the first woman across the line and fifth overall in 14:53.
Kirsty Andraos was the second-placed woman after finishing in 15:32 with Loghan Gray third in 15:35.
Although 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 aQuellé Midmar Mile will be formidable, with this weekend’s 10km and 3km winner Callan Lotter – absent from Sunday’s 1.2km race – looming as a serious contender.
But in a race as unpredictable as Midmar, the Pretoria swimmer who missed last year’s race with a broken arm sustained at the dam, believes anything can happen on the day.
“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.”
As for Sunday’s win, the 24-year-old added: “Especially after the 10km, I was definitely hurting quite a bit today, so I'm really happy with how today's swim went.”
Caldwell was also pleased with his day’s efforts, after also claiming the win in the 3km event in 35:05.
“It's not really about results at the moment. It's more for training today. It was more like a mileage day. Just racing, see how I'm feeling when I'm racing, trying different things out. But otherwise I’m happy with how it happened and how everything went,” he said afterwards.
“It was quite a cool finish. I was expecting to have a bit of competition there from Henré, a great swimmer. So 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… I happened to roll after onto the mat, but a very good race. Very strong contender. Always happy to race him,” added Caldwell, who boldly predicted a top three of himself, Louw and French contender Damien Joly at the aQuellé Midmar Mile.
Louw, meanwhile, reckoned he’s got some work to do on his exits before next month’s race.
“I think it was a very nice race with Matthew. We swam together for the majority of the race and then he just got me on the line, which is always fun to sprint the last bit, but he got a bit better exit than me and it’s something I need to work on before Midmar for sure,” he said.
Entries for the 53rd edition of the aQuellé Midmar Mile are still open. Those wishing to take part can enter via the event website. Head to www.midmarmile.com for more information.