“I Realized I Love It”: Carli Antonopoulos finds new motivation for 14th Midmar start

If there’s one thing Carli Antonopoulos won’t be short of when she competes in the aQuellé Midmar Mile next month, it’s motivation.

That was very clear this past Sunday when Antonopoulos competed in the Prime View Adventure & Leisure Event in Midrand. She won the 1.2km open-water race, the final seeding swim for Midmar. Her winning time was 14 minutes and 53 seconds. Only four male swimmers swam faster. She was second in both the 3km and 10km women’s races.

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The Tuks swimmer has good reason to want to assert herself. After last year, she realised how quickly things can go wrong. Accidents happen in hundredths of a second. She can attest to that.

The day before the elite swimmers were to race the Midmar Elite event, Antonopoulos was asked to do an interview. She had to climb onto a boat to do so. To make things easier, a chair was provided for swimmers to use. Unfortunately for her, the chair slipped in the mud as she was about to get into the boat. She fell and broke her arm. As a result, she was unable to swim for almost 12 weeks and missed virtually all the major events on the South African swimming calendar.

Ironically, shortly before the accident, Antonopoulos had told her coach that she hated swimming.

“I think I was exhausted when I said that. We put in a hard training block in January last year. In the time when I couldn’t train at all, like I was used to, it made me realise something: I don’t hate swimming; I love it.”

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This year marks the 14th time that the final year Tuks BSc Human Physiology, Genetics and Psychology student will compete in the Midmar Mile. It was her father who persuaded her to take on the challenge at the age of 9. In 2024, she came second in the elite women’s race.

What are the dos and don’ts of making a name for yourself when swimming the Midmar?

“That’s a tough question to answer. For me, it’s important to swim a good line. Fitness is important. The elite race is basically a sprint from start to finish.”

Tuks’ female swimmers have dominated the Midmar elite women’s race for the past four years. In 2022, Stephanie Houtman won; in 2024, Torry Early; and last year, Catherine Van Rensburg.

Antonopoulos backs the Tuks swimmers to be again on the podium.

“I have done enough of the Midmar elite races to know that anything can happen on the day. So often, everyone thinks one swimmer will win, but then an upset occurs. Literally anything can happen on the day.”