Strong local support on the water and ashore marked the day, alongside memorable wildlife encounters and a warm welcome from visiting ocean swimmers.
Community Support Fuels Six-Hour Swim into Ōhope
By Live Ocean
11/02/2026
Read time: 3 min
Article Summary
Main Points
The milestone swim pushed Jono beyond 600km total distance and 200 hours in the water, with more than 11,700 people now backing the call to end bottom trawling.
Jono consolidated his effort into one long swim on Tuesday, 10 February. The change in schedule from two swims to one was a strategic move to avoid swimming against the adverse current experienced the morning before.
A six-and-a-half-hour stint saw Jono and the mission team track past Whakatāne and on to Ōhope, where base camp was waiting ashore.
The local community showed strong support, with campers, kayakers and a boatload of ocean swimmers (complete with homemade scones for the support crew) making the effort to visit, cheer on and congratulate Jono — and to show their support for the call to end bottom trawling.
After the swim, Jono said: “There were a couple of really cool highlights. We had a group of swimmers — they call themselves the Optimists — come out on a yacht. They were alongside for around an hour and I had a good chat with them from the side of the boat. That was really cool of them to come out.”
Over the VHF, the visiting boat’s skipper said: “Welcome to the eastern Bay of Plenty. I’ve got a crew of keen ocean swimmers from Ōhope Beach and they’re delighted to come close and see the man in action. Love your cause too — everyone is on board with that.”
Their signs read: ‘Just keep swimming’ and ‘Go Jono!’
Jono also spoke about an experience he described as soul-enriching: “There was a school of kahawai that seemed to be following me — it felt like the same group — and there were also about half a dozen decent-sized kingis [kingfish] there as well. I took a moment to play around with them and watch them. It was a really soul-enriching experience, being in nature with things that are meant to be there and not needing to do anything but just watch.”
The day marked several milestones:
• Jono has now swum more than 600km since 5 January — the equivalent of around 27 Cook Strait crossings
• He has spent more than 200 hours swimming since 5 January
• More than 11,700 people have signed the call to end bottom trawling
Total distance covered: 603.03km
Yesterday’s swim — at a glance
Swim 1
Time: 6 hours 31 minutes
Distance: 16.14km
Average speed: 2.5km/h
1,000 Miles. 90 Days.
A Swim For The Ocean.
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