For more than two months, Jono Ridler’s existence has been an aquatic one.
Setting out from North Cape in early January, the 36-year-old ocean swimmer has embarked on a world-record-setting attempt to swim the length of the North Island. After weeks of salt exposure, body niggles and wildlife encounters, Ridlerhas reached a milestone moment on his journey.
On Wednesday in Hawke’s Bay, he hit 1000km of swimming – with about 400km left on the journey.
“It feels pretty surreal to hit 1000 kilometres. That’s only been possible through doing hard things, doing what we need to do every single day – now 60-plus days into this thing – and just allowing those small wins to stack on top of each other has allowed us to get to this big win that we’ve got now at 1000 kilometres,” Ridler said.
“It’s pretty cool to look back on. I don’t want to celebrate it too much because we do still have a wee way to go, but it’s cool to stop for a second, to pause and appreciate what we’ve done out here to get to this point.”
Reaching the 1000km mark represented the equivalent of swimming the English Channel nearly 30 times, or crossing Cook Strait approximately 45 times.
Jono Ridler: "Some days you feel strong. Some days you're just managing things." Photo / Joshua McCormack
“This is about persistence,” Ridler said. “Some days you feel strong. Some days you’re just managing things. You focus on the next stroke, the next feed, the next hour. That’s how I keep going.
Teaming up with Live Ocean, he set out on his journey hoping to bring the commercial fishing practice of bottom trawling into the spotlight and encourage the conversation on what more environmentally friendly alternatives could be explored.
Bottom trawling is a practice where heavy nets are dragged along the sea floor to catch large quantities. It is a practice that has a destructive impact on the sea-floor environment, while bycatch – non-target species caught in the nets – is also a concern. Bycatch is often dumped back into the ocean, whether it’s dead or alive, after being sorted.
Veteran sailor and sailing coach Hamish Willcox, who joined the Swim4TheOcean support team for a short stint, said setting the record seemed like a secondary goal to the athlete.
“His determination is really to bring the plight of the ocean into our living rooms,” Willcox said.
“When I first heard Jono talk about a mission like this, I was just blown away. I mean, could it be possible? It seemed unthinkable to consider walking from the top of the North Island to the bottom of the North Island. But swimming – that was another level.
“I reckon it was an impossible task, and he is turning it – pretty rapidly – into a possible task.”
Ridler’s swim is staged and unassisted, meaning he swims for a select amount of time before taking a break, and does so without a wetsuit. He initially anticipated the full journey would take about 90 days to complete, and he now heads into one of the toughest stretches of the swim.
From Hawke’s Bay south, safe harbours are few. Long, open sections offer little shelter from southerlies and rolling swells. Weather windows become increasingly important.
As they take on this challenge, an extra-large support vessel has joined them, providing an option for Ridler and the crew to rest between swim legs, without the long transfer back to land.
