Swim4TheOcean: Jono Ridler knocks off the first 20km swim to Wellington - Day 2
by Swim4TheOcean 6 Jan 16:05 PST
Jono Ridler has knocked of the first 20 km of his long swim - January 6, 2025 © Swim4TheOcean
Swim4TheOcean's Jono Ridler cracked through the 20km total distance swum yesterday - Day 2!
The swell and chop eased from yesterday and on-water conditions off the northeastern tip of the country were better than expected on Tuesday - an improvement on the challenging start. Well-planned timing for the swim across the entrance to Parengarenga Harbour also meant Jono had some current assisting him for a stretch .
For these first few days, Jono is swimming daytime only before transitioning to day and night swimming.
The plan is for him to be back in the water around 2pm today, Wednesday. Stay tuned and follow the mission at swim4theocean.org
Ridler and Live Ocean are asking people to show they support the call for New Zealand to end bottom trawling by adding their name to the call for action at www.Swim4TheOcean.org
Just getting to the start line was a logistical feat in itself. On-water support craft, including the Swim4TheOcean StabiX and IRB, launched south of Waikuku and motored north, while the shore-based team travelled by vehicle as far as possible, transferring to side-by-side buggies for the final few kilometres.
The term ‘unassisted’ is significant in Ridler’s world-record attempt. Defined by the Marathon Swimmers Federation, it means he’ll swim without a wetsuit - wearing only togs, goggles and a swim cap.
At the conclusion of each swim leg, Ridler will either walk ashore or be transferred by support boat to the closest land access point, where he’ll eat and sleep before heading back out. Each exit and re-entry point are logged by the GPS and that becomes the starting point for his next swim. Weather and sea conditions are expected to force rest days at times.
About Swim4TheOcean
Ridler is best known for his 33-hour nonstop, 99 km swim from Aotea Great Barrier to Auckland in 2023 - the longest swim ever completed in New Zealand. This time, the 36-year-old Aucklander is attempting to go further than anyone has before in an unassisted staged swim, using his epic effort to shine a light on ocean health.
Ridler is partnering with Live Ocean, the marine conservation charity founded by champion sailors Peter Burling and Blair Tuke. As Ridler pushes south, he will carry a clear message to decision makers: it’s time for New Zealand to make a quick transition away from bottom trawling, with the first priority being an end to bottom trawling on seamounts and other vital marine ecosystems.
More than 120 rest stops (between swim shifts), and six community stopovers are planned along the route, giving coastal towns the chance to welcome Ridler ashore and show their support for a healthy ocean.
Swim4TheOcean is backed by Platinum sponsor TMNZ alongside supporting swim sponsors including APL, Forsyth Barr, Generate KiwiSaver, and StabiX
Follow the mission at Swim4TheOcean.org and on Live Ocean’s channels @itsliveocean.
View at www.Swim4TheOcean.org
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Website: liveocean.org/swim4theocean Follow Jono's progress on the live tracker.
The Swim4TheOcean project is heavily reliant on PredictWind for forecasting of both weather and currents as well as data transmission on progress using a PredictWind Datahub.
Win a PredictWind DataHub
Don't forget to make your entry in the PredictWind competition to win a PredictWind DataHub and a 12 month Professional subscription, with three other prizes of 12 month professional subscriptions. Enter by clicking this link www.sail-world.com/NZ/competition/30