Short Swim, Big Welcome at Goat Island Marine Reserve

Jono completed what he described as “a very short swim leg”: five and a half kilometres in one hour and 38 minutes, from Pākiri to Te Hāwere-a-Maki Goat Island Marine Reserve, where the second Swim4TheOcean community stopover was held at Aotearoa New Zealand’s oldest marine reserve. 

A planned 10:30am start saw Jono swim in on cue, greeted by applause and cheers from the beach at Goat Island. 

Jono described the moment: “It was one of the most special moments of the journey so far, with so many people down on the beach to welcome me in. 

“I had my head underwater for a long period of time and didn’t really know what was going on, but as soon as I looked up and saw all the people, it was amazing. Everybody welcoming me onto the beach and being able to see my family again for a short period of time, has been really special. 

“Overall, it’s been a great day. My body is feeling a bit beat up after some hard days, so we’re going to take 24 hours of rest before getting back in the water at around 11am tomorrow morning.” 

What comes next for Jono and the Swim4TheOcean operations team is the logistical challenge of crossing a large open stretch of water.  

He’ll be leaving from the Goat Island waypoint at Te Hāwere-a-Maki on the north-east Auckland coast, crossing the Hauraki Gulf and Firth of Thames to reach Colville, at the northern tip of the Coromandel Peninsula. He will swim to the south of Te Hauturu-o-Toi Little Barrier Island and Aotea Great Barrier Island. 

The crossing to Colville is around 60km, making it one of the longer open-water legs of the Swim4TheOcean journey. It will be completed across multiple swim stints, involve an additional support vessel, and include a pause for further community engagement. 

On the afternoon of Tuesday, 27 January, Jono will travel by boat between swim stints for an all-welcome community event in Tāmaki Makaurau, at the Akarana Marine Events Centre in Ōkahu Bay. 

Next community event: 5pm, Akarana Marine Events Centre, Ōkahu Bay, Auckland 

The team is aiming to reach Colville by late Wednesday or early Thursday depending on weather and currents.  

Jono’s endurance effort is driven by a clear purpose: calling for an end to bottom trawling. New Zealand is still bottom trawling seamounts in our own waters, and is the only nation continuing to bottom trawl seamounts on the South Pacific high seas. 

Swim4TheOcean is calling on the New Zealand Government to end bottom trawling on all seamounts – at home and on the high seas – by the end of 2027, and to activate a rapid transition away from bottom trawling entirely. 

Go Jono! 

Total distance covered: 288.7km 

Yesterday’s swim — at a glance 

Swim 1 

Start: 10:36am 
Time: 1 hour 38 minutes 
Distance: 5.2km 
Average speed: 3.2km/h