Auckland ultra-marathon swimmer Jono Ridler will swim from North Cape to Wellington to raise awareness of destructive bottom trawling. Photo / Gareth Cooke
Auckland ultra-marathon swimmer Jono Ridler will swim from North Cape to Wellington to raise awareness of destructive bottom trawling. Photo / Gareth Cooke
Ultra-marathon swimmer Jono Ridler is gearing up for an unprecedented 1600km ocean swim from North Cape to Wellington in a bid to end destructive bottom trawling and shine a light on ocean health.
Called Swim4TheOcean, the mission will see Ridler attempt to swim the entire east coast of theNorth Island in long rotating shifts, day and night, over roughly 90 days.
The 35-year-old, from Auckland, will start the epic swim on January 5, weather permitting, and will hug the eastern coastline of the North Island until he gets to the capital around April.
“Every week over the course of 12 weeks I’ll need to clock up about 150kms.
He completed the 45km feat off the Tutukākā coast in 13 hours and 20 minutes.
Ridler came up with the latest idea in 2023, inspired by international staged swims, such as Lewis Pugh who swam the length of the English Channel in 2018.
If successful, Ridler’s swim will be the longest unassisted staged swim in history.
Jono Ridler is best known for his 99km swim from Great Barrier to Auckland in 2023 - the longest ever in New Zealand.
He said he was also inspired to get New Zealand to transition away from bottom trawling on seamounts and other vital marine ecosystems.
“I wanted to do something similar, not just a swimming challenge, but use that as a platform to do something meaningful, and get people interested in the story around the ocean and bottom trawling.”
Bottom trawling is a destructive fishing method where heavy, weighted nets are dragged across the ocean floor, damaging habitats like coral reefs and seamounts.
Ridler will be swimming around the clock, coming ashore only to rest and refuel.
His team of six helpers include four people in two boats focussed on safety and two people in two vehicles on land.
“We back ourselves as leaders and innovators here in New Zealand,” he said.
“We need to make bottom trawling part of our history, not our future.”
Tuke said New Zealanders had a special connection to the moana and a responsibility to look after it.
“Sport can be an amazing unifier, and Jono is putting himself on the line here.
“We want Kiwis to come around Swim4TheOcean and show their support for a healthy ocean.”
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.
Follow his mission at Swim4TheOcean.org and on Live Ocean’s channels @itsliveocean.
Jenny Ling is a senior journalist at the Northern Advocate. She has a special interest in covering human interest stories, along with finance, roading, and social issues.
