2009

FAME South Africa 2009

Antonio won the Men's Pro Fitness Model Division during October 2009 during the FAME South Africa Nationals that was held at the Emerald Casino in Gauteng.

Mr and Miss Fitness 2009

Antonio successfully defended his title in the Men's Model Division at the Mr and Miss Fitness 2009 that took place on 14 and 15 August 2009 at the Grand Area at the Grandwest Casino in Cape Town.























FAME Worlds in Cananda 

I arrived in Montreal at 8pm Thursday night, my bag didn't arrive till Saturday.LOL!! I was competing on Friday and Saturday so the fact that I arrived late Thursday was a major disadvantage, because of water retention from the flight. I was booked into the Le Nouvel hotel which was not anywhere near the venue or the host hotel! I went to go try and register that nigh but everyone was already asleep by the time i got there but I did see my good friend Kevin who is the back stage manager and he calmed my nerves and told me what time I needed to be at the venue the next day. Friday morning caught a taxi to the venue which cost me 20$! rip off! Once I arrived at the venue and spoke to Jeff and Mindy (the owners of FAME) I felt much better and everything seemed to be falling into place! I fortunately kept all my clothing and cream tan in my carry-on luggage so I had everything I needed to compete. I met allot of athletes and made friends with most of them. I was lucky enough to make friends with a fellow athlete named Adam Hawryliw who helped me with my tan. We had prejudging in the morning and then the main show in the evening. I competed in Pro Muscle model and Pro swimsuit model that day. The competition was tough but I was confident. I won the pro swimsuit and came second in pro muscle model. So i was pretty happy with the day’s work but I was dehydrated and exhausted and had no clean cloths and I had to do it all the next day again, I caught a lift back to the host hotel and then got a cab from there and went to bed. Saturday arrived I was a bit drained before the competition had even started. I got to the venue way to early and started my tanning up and prep not realising that I had read the wrong time and I was 3 hours too early. I also then messed up my water and by the time I got on stage I was so over it was just could not keep up the stage presence. I ended up with a third place in pro fitness model where I know if I came in the right frame of mind I would have won. All in all it was a great experience I learnt a lot and I met loads of awesome people. I have made some lasting friendships and I am blessed to have had this opportunity.

This year has started with a bang I moved to Cape Town and working and modelling and studying and training and training people! At the same time I had the Mr SA finals which was on the 14th March
I have never met such a great bunch of guys and I am in touch with most of the guys still. I learnt how to dance in six days thanks to Ryno the choreographer and my dance partner Karin. I cannot explain who awesome the experiences was and have amazing the show was because I cannot find the words to do it justice. It really was an experience of a life time! I did not win but I did win the Mr Body Perfect which I think suits me better!

So you can see my body has taken me places and with the right attitude and knowledge you can
Achieve anything!

Watch this space for updates:  

2008

The year 2008 was a big year for me I had huge expectations but also huge draw back because I was living in Knysna doing my community service year. Most of all there are not Virgin Actives in Knysna so I was forced to train in a small gym with minimal equipment and no Brenton to motivate me. I met my mate Zaine a 150+kg wrestler and IT boffin!  We trained together and he pushed me to push heavier weights and I showed him how to train and eat properly and live healthy! He is now in Pretoria and weighs 120kg and has more muscle and is stronger than ever. I wanted to compete at the FAME world champs in June that year but finances and a car accident kept me out of it, which I still regret.
I was then entered into the Cleo Bachelor of the year competition by my good friend Pieter who runs the SAGUYS site and the SAGUYS models which I am still part of. I did very well and it was loads of fun and great exposure. I got into the finals where I met some awesome guys. I am still mates with Vincent and the eventual winner Jeremy. We had a good time. It was then time for fitness season and things started poorly with FAME Nationals in Durban where I came in with the wrong attitude and I ended second because of my poor stage presence! That was a great show and I met Susan and Ant there who are still very close friends of mine.
The next week was the big one Fitness SA run by Bernadette. It was in Cape Town at Grand West and we all stayed in the hotel thanks to Berni. It was an amazing experience, and it has to be one of the best fitness shows in the world! I had to make up for my poor stage presence at FAME so I put in lots of effort and I came out on top! I won some great prizes including R10000 and this website you are reading this on! I made loads of friends and I still keep in touch with.

I was on top of the world after my win at Fitness SA and I wanted to compete internationally so my mate Ant and I went and competed at the FAME North American champs in Miami! What an amazing experience. I had an amazing time and I met so many people and my friend Claudia who I met on Facebook showed me around Miami so I got to fully experience Miami. I then also won the Pro Fitness Model division which is the most sort after division. It was one of the best experiences of my life! Once I got back from Miami I realised that I was through to the semi finals of the Mr South Africa competition and I needed to do lots of charity work and fund raising for the competition and at the same had to find a new job and a place to stay in Cape Town.

2007

In 2007 I had to move into the men’s division so I had to put allot of effort into trying to put on some extra muscle. I competed at the WPF EP champs and I came second in the men's heavy weight division. It was an awesome show and we had a great time allot of my gym buddies competed so it was like a team all helping each other out. My friend and trainer Brenton gave me a big lecture a few weeks before the show because I was not training hard enough and my condition was not good enough. So I trained 14times a week for a total of 3 to 4 hours a day for a whole month till the week before the show. I was still about a week or two out in his opinion but the WPF SA champs was a week away so he was confident that I would peak for that competition.

By this time my relationship with my girlfriend at the time was taking strain and she was on the verge of moving out! I then went to JHB for the WPF SA champs where I got the biggest reality check ever! I was way too small and I got blown away! I came 7th in the men’s heavy weight division but I was competing against great bodybuilders like the legendary Marko Rossi! I also met the legendary Joanne Rossi who said I must come up to JHB the next month to compete at her show the EXERGISE AWARDS, as a fitness model. That was the most important thing that happened on that trip! I didn’t make any friends at the show. I then flew up to JHB the next month in better shape than I was at the SA champs and I was welcomed into the wonderful world of fitness competitions. What an amazing experience. Fitness shows are so amazing, there is a fun friendly vibe and there are loads of health good-looking people. I had a blast and I met a lot of awesome people who I am still friends with. I also met Cindy Ellis who is like a sister to me and we both walked away with the fitness model titles in our first fitness show and you won’t
Believe this but our birthdays are the same day!  EXERGISE was an unforgettable experience for me.
I also won R10000 and loads of other supplements and stuff. I then heard about a show in Cape Town called Beautifully Dangerous where I met Mags and Bernadette who I am still friends with.
The show was loads of fun and one of the guys that I met at the show was Brad Bodsworth who is now one of my best friends in Cape Town. We all had a great time and I was in awesome shape but I didn’t win I came second but I didn’t matter because I won the body round by far!

2006

In 2006 I did my first bodybuilding show. It was the Splash festival bodybuilding Champs and it used to be a very big show with the top bodybuilders in Eastern Cape competing. Luckily for me the top guys did not enter and I won my division and the overalls in front of almost 3000 people at Hobie beach in PE. I dieted hard for 6 months and I went from 108kg 9% body fat (but loads of water) to 90kg's on the day dehydrated with 2% body fat!
Still to this day that was probably the best condition I have walked on stage. I also received a huge confidence boost and R3000. A month later I competed at the IFBB EP development champs where I also won my division and overalls and then a month after that I took my first knock.
I competed at the IFBB Novice championships and I won my division but I didn’t win the overalls and I was devastated! I didn't compete again that year. It was also my final year at University and my marks actually improved by 10% even though I was training twice a day and preparing six solid meals a day and eating in class and living on fat burners! In all the shows I did in 2006 I didn’t make one friend.