Swim4TheOcean: Jono Ridler starts 1,000nm swim to Wellington
by Swim4TheOcean 5 Jan 17:13 NZDT
Jono Ridler begins his Swim4TheOcean - January 5, 2026 - North Cape © LiveOcean
Today, Jono Ridler, in collaboration with marine conservation charity Live Ocean, began his Swim4TheOcean campaign, a 1,000-mile world-record attempt for the longest unassisted staged swim, aimed at uniting New Zealanders around the race for a healthy ocean.
Entering the water at 12:55pm from Waikuku, North Cape, the 36-year-old will attempt to swim the entire east coast of the North Island, carrying a clear message to decision makers in Wellington: it’s time to end bottom trawling.
A live tracker on Swim4TheOcean.org allows the public to follow the swim in real time, showing Ridler’s location, pace, progress and the conditions he’s facing while swimming. He’ll swim long rotating shifts, working with the tide, over roughly 90 days.
Ridler was farewelled at Waikuku by mana whenua, Ngati Kuri representatives, who gathered to acknowledge the start of his 1,000-mile swim attempt.
Ridler’s mum and dad were there for the send-off, as well as Blair Tuke, co-founder of Live Ocean.
For the first few days he’ll swim during daylight hours, before transitioning to day-and-night swimming. Today he swam for just over three hours and completed 9.2km.
Weather and sea conditions on day one tested Ridler and the support team with a 15-knot easterly breeze, swell of around 1.5metres and some surface chop to contend with. Throughout the mission, tide and ocean currents will be key factor – today at North Cape it was running across Ridler’s southbound route and not significantly impacting his progress.
“There’ll be ups, there’ll be downs, there’ll be challenges, there’ll be euphoria. It really will be a crazy adventure for the next 90 days. I feel nervous and excited at the same time - I’m keen to get going, to stop thinking and to start doing,” Ridler said before setting out.
“It comes back to why we’re doing this… it’s about igniting New Zealanders around the race for a healthy ocean. If you’d like to support this, put your name to the call to end bottom trawling on swim4theocean.org. You can also leave a message for me that will help to power me through when things get tough.”
Blair Tuke, co-founder, Live Ocean was there for the send-off; “Here we are at Waikuku Beach, the northernmost beach of the east coast of Aotearoa New Zealand, less than ten or 15 minutes before Jono jumps into the water and starts his epic mission south.”
“A huge moment to be here, there’s an incredible journey ahead of Jono, and he’s taking such a powerful message with him - for the end of bottom trawling. I really hope that New Zealanders get behind him and wish him well and join that journey with us.”
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
Embed code www.predictwind.com/live-ocean/media
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