Sharks all in a day’s swim
As Jono Ridler swam across Foveaux Strait he noticed sharks, possibly 100 metres below him.
That is one memory he has of crossing the Strait recently, from Saddle Point on Stewart Island, to Shag Rock in Bluff.
The perfect conditions provided him with a clear view of about 20 sharks.
‘‘They weren’t that big and didn’t have much interest in me,’’ Ridler said.
‘‘We had a shark shield, with a magnetic field hanging off the IRB [inflatable rescue boat].’’
After Ridler finished the swim, a support boat member told him that at one stage there was a shark 15 metres from him, but it didn’t get any closer.
Ridler is in the process of ratifying his swim time of 7hrs 52min (28km) with a marathon swimming organisation.
An official observer was taking notes on a support boat for record purposes.
If the time was officially recognised, it would be the fastest swim across Foveaux Strait, Ridler said.
‘‘It was amazing conditions . . . I had to pinch myself at times that I wasn’t swimming in a lake.
‘‘It only changed a bit at the end for the last hour.’’
A short time after completing the swim Ridler celebrated on the Shangri La fishing boat with a lamb sandwich, a cup of tea and some champagne.
Within two hours of the swim he took up the offer of a free feed of fish and chips from the owner of a fast foods outlet in Bluff.
Ridler had met the shop owner on an earlier trip to Bluff.
‘‘They said, ‘if you do the swim, come back, and I’ll shout you a feed of fish and chips’,’’ Ridler said.