Aucklander to attempt record-breaking 100km swim across the Hauraki Gulf

33-year-old Aucklander Jono Ridler will unprecedented attempt to a 100km, 35-hour, swim across the Hauraki Gulf. Photo / SubZero Images

An Auckland man will make a record-breaking attempt at a 100km, 35-hour, swim across the Hauraki Gulf in a test of human endurance and to inspire urgent action to protect and restore the health of Auckland’s waters.

The New Zealand record non-stop ultra-distance open water swim from Karaka Bay, Aotea Great Barrier Island to Narrow Neck Beach will be attempted by 33-year-old Aucklander Jono Ridler in a weather window on or shortly after April 25.

Ridler is no stranger to long open water swims and is one of 10 to have completed New Zealand’s “triple crown” of endurance swimming by swimming 23km across Cook Strait in 2019, 40.4km up Lake Taupo in 2020, and 28.6km across Foveaux Strait in 2021.

Ridler wants immediate action to safeguard and improve the health of the Hauraki Gulf. Photo / SubZero Images

It will take him at least 30 hours to complete his “Swim4TheGulf” effort, which will be longer than all of his previous “triple crown” swims combined and more than twice as far as his longest ocean swim.

From April 25 through May 5, Ridler will set out from Karaka Bay on Great Barrier Island’s north-west shore, depending on the tide and the weather. Ridler leaves in the morning and plans to swim through the entire day and night before landing at Narrow Neck Beach late the following day.

If successful, Ridler will set a new record for the longest uninterrupted solo-unassisted open-water swim in New Zealand, breaking the previous mark of 80.8km set by the double crossing of Lake Taupō. It will take between 30 and 35 hours to complete the swim, which must be done without a wetsuit in order to comply.

In addition to pushing the envelope of human endurance, Ridler said he hopes to motivate immediate action to safeguard and improve the health of the Hauraki Gulf.

He said the swim “acknowledges the significance and value of the Gulf, and also acts as a call to Government to move now to protect and restore it” and is working in collaboration with Live Ocean, founded by acclaimed sailors Blair Tuke and Peter Burling.

Ridler is welcomed by Tuke and Burling as a fellow ocean athlete who will use his influence to promote action for a healthy ocean.

Ridler is no stranger to long open water swims and is one of ten to have completed New Zealand’s “Triple Crown”. Photo / SubZero Images

“He’ll be pushing himself to the edge of what’s humanly possible to raise attention about the state of the Gulf,” Burling said.

“We’re asking the public to really get behind him and show him massive support. We have to draw a line in the sand. We need central government to prioritise this.”

The Hauraki Gulf Forum creates an independent report on the general condition of the Hauraki Gulf every three years.

According to those accounts, the Gulf is under intense pressure from both maritime and land-based activities. For instance, plastic pollution from the land has led to our Bryde’s whales ingesting 3 million bits of microplastic per day, while seafloor dredging has necessitated the immediate closing of the last shellfish beds in the Gulf.

The Hauraki Gulf needs to be protected and restored, and Ridler said he hopes his effort to swim across it will raise awareness and help in some way.

“Since I started open water swimming, I’ve had the great privilege of swimming in the ocean and lakes all across New Zealand, but the Hauraki Gulf is my backyard and it is incredibly special,” Ridler said.

“The Gulf sparkles on a good day, but beneath the waterline, in many places, it’s a disaster-zone,

“After spending countless hours with my head in the water seeing the devastation and hearing from scientists and locals about the state of the Gulf, I just couldn’t sit idle any longer. I want to make sure that I’m doing my part to see the health of Tīkapa Moana flourish for generations to come.”