Swim4TheOcean: - Day 6: Jono Ridler has logged 113km and close to 36 hours swim time
by Swim4TheOcean 12 Jan 00:18 PST
Jono Ridler - Swim4TheOcean - January 11, 2026 © Joshua McCormack
A week since he waded into the surf at Waikuku Beach, North Cape, Jono Ridler has logged 113km and close to 36 hours swim time in his unassisted staged swim world-record attempt.
Partnering with Live Ocean in this Swim4TheOcean, he’s destined for Wellington taking a clear call for New Zealand to end bottom trawling.
Favourable conditions over the past two days have seen him clock long days and level up from daytime only swims to do his first two-swim day yesterday covering 26km, passing outside Mahinepua, Stephenson Island and coming ashore to base camp at Taupo Bay.
In week one he’s pushed through nausea and is now battling sunburn; he’s faced challenging sea conditions and enjoyed calm days; he’s encountered marine life - whales, seabirds and sharks. All expected challenges in an endurance feat of this scale.
Ridler’s wearing only swim togs, cap and goggles and doesn’t touch the support boat or people while in the water, in order to comply with ‘unassisted’ marathon swim rules. He’s suffered from sunburn in the sweltering conditions over recent days.
“It was really nice conditions. My body felt a little bit tender this morning with the sunburn, but it went away after a short while and then it was all about getting into the work,” he said after coming out of the water around 11am having swum three hours and close to 12km.
The crew pulled into Taupo Bay for a rest period through the hottest part of the day before heading back out and getting an evening swim leg underway, from 6-10pm.
Andy Tuke, On Water Lead for the operations team reported nice conditions with breeze from the northwest of about 9 knots during the evening. Mid shift he reported; “Jono’s going along really well with some positive current assistance. The sun’s going down and we’re going to swim for another two hours taking us through to around 10pm. It’s our first night swim.”
Swim4TheOcean calls for an end to bottom-trawling and the message is resonating with New Zealanders on-the-beach, on the water and online. Already more than 2,300 have signed the call for action at Swim4TheOcean.org.
The first Swim4TheOcean community stopover will be at the Bay of Islands – and Ridler looks set to make it to Nine Pin at the outer entrance within the next 24 hours. He’ll transfer ashore and locals will have an opportunity to shake hands with Ridler between 3-5pm on Tuesday 13 January at Waitangi.
The ultra distance swimmer is attempting to swim the entire east coast of the North Island and minimising distance by ‘straight-lining’ between iconic coastal landmarks has aided his progress in week one. The on-water Operations Team are also ensuring he’s making the most of favourable current where possible.
Typically, rather than swim ashore, Ridler transfers to and from the last marked GPS point of each swim leg on the Swim4TheOcean StabiX support boat.
The plan for today, Monday 12 January is two swim legs, the first kicked off at 6am with another swim set to start in the evening and roll into nighttime.
People can follow the swim via live tracker and sign the call for an end to bottom trawling at swim4theocean.org
About Swim4TheOcean
Jono Ridler, a 36-year-old from Auckland, 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 community stopovers are planned along the route, giving coastal towns the chance to welcome Ridler ashore and show their support for a healthy ocean.
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.
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.
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.
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