Jono Ridler Swims From Aotea Great Barrier To Campbells Bay, Auckland

Jono Ridler looks to have set a New Zealand record for open water swimming having gone well beyond the current record of 80.8km swimming from Karaka Bay Aotea Great Barrier Island across the Hauraki Gulf to come ashore at Campbells Bay on Auckland’s North Shore.

In the final stages of Swim4TheGulf he pushed hard in extremely challenging conditions of more than 25 knot winds and choppy seas.

His motivation was not just personal challenge, but also concern for the declining state of the Hauraki Gulf pushing himself to the absolute edge of physical and mental limits.

To achieve the record Jono’s course is measured straight line distance between waypoints – which may differ from the distance log on the tracker. Just what distance record he has achieved may take some time to verify.

To comply with regulations Jono needed to come ashore unassisted, with an observer sounding a horn to mark the end of the swim.

Swimming this distance, for this long non-stop was unchartered territory for Jono and as expected he took some time to adjust and recover immediately after coming ashore.

St John provided on-water support as part of the swim mission and an ambulance was at the finish point and Jono used it as a place to towel down, warm up and recover while being monitored.

Media assets and still images are available through the links below with a media release and more to come.

ENDS

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