Triple-swim Day Pushes Jono to the Edge of the 1,000km Mark
Sunday 8 March marked the first time Jono completed three separate swims in a single day, adapting the schedule to work with the available weather and currents.
With 981.5km under his belt, the 1,000km milestone is now within reach, and Jono is expected to pass it on Monday 9 March.
The next community stopover has now been confirmed, with Napier locals preparing to welcome Jono and the Swim4TheOcean crew on Tuesday 10 March | 3:30–5:30pm at
Perfume Point, Te Karaka Reserve, Napier.
Yesterday (8 March) the team woke at anchor – swags on the back deck of the mothership, with the StabiX tied up behind. They’d tucked in just south of the Māhia Peninsula for a sheltered sleep after a very long transit back from the last marked GPS point in rough conditions.
The day marked the first time Jono completed three separate swims in a single day, adapting the schedule to work with the available weather and currents. He entered the water around 9am for the first stint, before returning for a four-hour afternoon swim starting at 1:21pm, and finishing the day with a final push just before 6:30pm, wrapping up around 8:30pm.
Across the three sessions he spent just over eight hours in the water, covering 21km of coastline as the mission continues south toward Wellington. The middle swim did the heavy lifting – 11km in four hours at an average speed of 2.8km/h – with two shorter swims either side to make the most of the available weather window.
With 981.5km under his belt, the 1,000km milestone is now within reach, and Jono is expected to pass it on Monday 9 March. Based on the projected route distance of 1,387.53km, roughly 406km of the journey remains.
As Swim4TheOcean pushed past the Māhia Peninsula, the route now cuts across the wide-open stretch of Hawke’s Bay towards Te Kauwae-a-Māui / Cape Kidnappers. At times the team will be up to 40km from the nearest point of land, with safe access points for the boats even further away.
To support this next phase, an additional larger support vessel has joined the mission. It gives Jono and the crew an option to rest offshore between swim legs, avoiding long transfers back to land. A new approach that brings its own unknowns.
After the long three-swim day the team remained offshore overnight – no caravan, no land crew. Adrift through the hours of darkness, they will return to the last marked GPS point for Tuesday morning’s swim start.
The next community stopover is confirmed, with Napier locals preparing to welcome Jono and the Swim4TheOcean crew:
Tuesday 10 March | 3:30–5:30pm
Perfume Point, Te Karaka Reserve, Napier
According to the PredictWind live tracker, Jono has now covered 981.5km. Based on the projected route distance of 1,387.53km, approximately 406km remain to Wellington.
Follow Jono’s progress on the live tracker and sign the call for action at Swim4TheOcean.
Total distance covered: 981.5km
Projected distance to go: 406km
Swims at a glance – 8 March
Swim 1
Time: 2 hours 2 mins
Distance: 5.01km
Average speed: 2.5km/h
Swim 2
Time: 4 hours
Distance: 11.01km
Average speed: 2.8km/h
Swim 2
Time: 2 hours 1 min
Distance: 4.98km
Average speed: 2.5km/k
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