Callan Lötter and Matthew Caldwell were crowned champions of the aQuellé Midmar Mile for the first time after two very different races on Sunday. While Lötter took the direct route, dominating the elite women’s race, Caldwell’s strategy to swim a wide line out to the right of the rest of the field in the men’s race raised some questions but ultimately paid off.
The Johannesburg swimmer had boldly predicted that the top three in this year’s men’s race would be himself, fellow South African Henré Louw and visiting Frenchman and three-time Olympian Damien Joly. And the trio did indeed take to the front early, joined by Connor Albertyn. But Caldwell made the decision to swim wide to avoid the pack, leaving the other three to fight it out. With Joly unsure whether he had to swim under the hotspot markers or not, he changed his own line several times and it cost him, leaving Caldwell, Louw and Albertyn to battle for the top three spots.
Caldwell’s angle worked in his favour and he took the win in 18min 32sec with Louw second in 18:42 and Albertyn third in 18:44. Joly was fourth, a further seven seconds back.
“I just needed to be as wide as possible, not close to anyone. I just didn’t want to be in sight. I wanted to be like an invisible person swimming there. So the plan was just swim my own race in clean water,” Caldwell explained of his tactics. “It’s lovely. I’ve been wanting this for a few years now… Henré, myself and Connor on the podium, that’s perfect, that’s how it should be – South Africa on top.”
In the women’s race, Lötter mastered the rough conditions perfectly and made her move early. She was already well out in front by the 400m mark and continued to stretch the gap to the chasing pack. By halfway, the 19-year-old was 12 seconds in front and she had extended that lead to 19 seconds by the final marker at 1200m. She eventually reached the finish in 19:51 with the battle for second and third heating up behind her.
It was 2022 champion Stephanie Houtman who secured second spot in 20:02 with fellow Pretoria swimmer Carli Antonopoulos third in 20:07. The trio were over a minute clear of the next swimmers.
“My plan was to go out comfortable and see where the rest of the people were, and if they went out fast, I would try and stay with them. And then my plan was only to start building from 400m onwards,” said Lötter.
“It feels really good. It just shows that my training has been working and I’m really happy with how I performed today,” she added, paying tribute to her coach, Troyden Prinsloo. “Troy has helped me a lot and given me the confidence and made me enjoy the sport again.”
Photo and words supplied
