Major Milestone: Jono Dips Under 1,000km to Wellington

Jono Ridler has less than 1,000km to go in his Swim4TheOcean. 

The major milestone fell early in the morning swim on 1 February, with the distance-to-go counter dropping to 999km after departing Opito Bay, where Jono and the support team had taken a well-earned break the day before. 

It was another day of favourable conditions, with two swims completed and around 25km logged. Jono marked a clear path on the live tracker – from the last waypoint off Opito Bay, inside Motukurena Island and Needle Rock in the morning, then across Mercury Bay during a five-hour afternoon session. Jono came out of the water and the crew dropped the waypoint off the coast just beyond Hot Water Beach off the eastern Coromandel coast. 

Conditions were glassy calm first thing. A moderate following sea breeze of 12-15knots and good current assist later in the day helped Jono make strong progress in the afternoon. The overnight camp was at Hot Water Beach.  

While he’s now on top of the sunburn and mouth swelling he faced earlier in the swim, Jono is dealing with a niggly wrist. 

“Right now, I have an inflamed wrist tendon on my radial side, which has come about as a result of muscle fatigue and poor mechanics. 

“Over the last 24 hours I’ve taken non-steroidal anti-inflammatories. I’ve had massage, dry needling, physio and osteo – we’re throwing everything at this to try and make it better. But at the end of the day, we still have to swim. 

“Today I’ve got electrical tape over k-tape and we’re just making it work. We’ve got to keep on going – and that’s why they call this a challenge.” 

Recent milestones 

• More than 7,600 people have signed the Swim4TheOcean call for an end to bottom trawling 

• Jono has cracked the 1,000km-to-go milestone, with the live tracker now showing 977.4km remaining.* 

• More than 400km swum so far – the equivalent of around 16 Cook Strait crossings 

• Over 140 hours completed across 37 swim legs since starting on 5 January at Waikuku Beach, North Cape 

 

Community stopover coming up 

Omanu Surf Life Saving Club, Mount Maunganui – 4pm, Thursday 5 February. A chance to meet Jono Ridler and hear more about Swim4TheOcean. There will be a sausage sizzle, games and a face painter. 

Total distance covered: 416.7km 

Yesterday’s swims – at a glance 

Swim 1 

Start: 7:22am 

Time: 2 hours 59 mins 

Distance: 8.5km 

Average speed: 2.9km/h

Swim 2 

Start: 2:50pm 

Time: 4 hours 59 mins 

Distance: 16.2km 

Average speed: 3.3km/h