Caldwell and Antonopoulos secure final seeding victories ahead of Midmar Mile

JOHANNESBURG – Matthew Caldwell and Carli Antonopoulos cemented their status as favourites for next month’s aQuellé Midmar Mile following their respective victories at the final seeding swim, held at Prime View Adventure & Leisure in Midrand on Sunday.

Caldwell narrowly edged out Henré Louw to claim the win in the mixed 1.2km event, clocking a time of 14 minutes and 28 seconds. Louw followed closely in second place at 14:29.

“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,” said Caldwell.

Sven van der Linde finished third in 14:36, while Antonopoulos was the first woman across the line—and fifth overall—with a time of 14:53. Kirsty Andraos secured the second-place spot for the women in 15:32, followed by Loghan Gray in third at 15:35.

While Antonopoulos was thrilled with the victory—especially after competing in the 10km race on Saturday—she remains wary of the challenge ahead. Callan Lotter, who won both the 10km and 3km events this weekend, was absent from Sunday’s 1.2km race but remains a formidable contender for the Midmar title.

“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,” Antonopoulos noted. “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.”