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Ultra-marathon swimmer Jono Ridler passed through Mangawhai waters late last month as part of his ambitious Swim4TheOcean challenge, an endurance swim designed to draw attention to bottom trawling and its impact on the ocean.
Ridler is attempting to swim the entire east coast of the North Island, after starting at Waikuku Beach, near North Cape, on January 5. His goal is to finish in Wellington – a journey that is expected to take around three months.
On Friday January 23 (Day 19), he reached Bream Tail where he ended that day’s swim. He and the support crew were escorted by Mangawhai Coastguard members, aboard Kokako, across the Mangawhai bar around 10pm, staying the night in Mangawhai before starting Day 20 early the next morning – 288.7km down, just 1105.5km to go!
When leaving Mangawhai for Pakiri, Ridler swam close to the shore to stay sheltered from the westerly wind and had one of his best day’s distance wise, covering a total of 27km in seven hours, 49 minutes in two shifts. On Sunday he was at Goat Island reserve for a community stopover.
Mangawhai Coastguard’s president Ron Lucca says Jono and his supporters appreciated the assistance, having never crossed the Mangawhai bar in the daytime before, let alone at night.
“There was no trouble putting together a crew as it was for a cause close to our hearts,” Lucca said. “We have received tremendous support from our community so were more than happy to be able to give something back to support this world record long distance swim attempt.”
Support for the swim has come in a variety of forms, both cash and kind, and Ridler has a core group of specialists around him providing on-water and shore-based support.
An amphibious StabiX boat and an IRB are accompanying him on the journey while on shore, a camper and caravan are following along the coast.
The record attempt is unassisted – that means togs, goggles, swim cap and earplugs only – no wetsuit. It’s a staged swim, allowing for stops ashore to rest and refuel. At the end of every swim, the GPS position is logged and that’s where the next shift starts.
Ridler will be coming ashore more than 120 times between swim shifts as the mission tracks down the coast. Most of the time he will be focussed on swimming, then just eating and sleeping before he gets back to task.
The record attempt can be followed on https://liveocean.org/swim4theocean. There is all the finer details of the swim, logistics and a link to add your name to the call for the banning of bottom trawling.
Ridler is no stranger to record-breaking swims. In May 2023, he set a New Zealand record for the longest unassisted, continuous open-water swim, completing a 99-kilometre, non-stop, no-wetsuit crossing from Aotea Great Barrier Island to Campbells Bay on Auckland’s North Shore as part of his Swim4TheGulf challenge.
He hopes this latest challenge will inspire New Zealanders to take action for the ocean and support a more sustainable future for the country’s marine environment.
