Dr. Steve Minaglia and Marek Lehocky completed a 24-stage 206.47 km non-continuous stage swim around the island of Oahu between March and November 2022.
It was the first circumnavigation swim around one of the islands of the state of Hawaii.
This summer, a second circumnavigation swim around another island of Hawaii will be attempted.
The Epic Maui Swim will undoubtedly live up to its name.
In what is billed as an official project of the United Nations Ocean Decade, 12 renowned ocean swimmers will participate in a 12-day 300 km circumnavigation swim around the island of Maui in Hawaii in celebration of the Hawaiian culture and a call to action for ocean health.
The unprecedented adventure – called the Epic Swim Maui – is slated to start on July 7th.
Swimmers include:
- John Clark
- Andrew Donaldson of Scotland
- Bárbara Hernández Huerta of Chile
- Prabhat Koli of India [shown above on left]
- Nathalie Pohl of Germany
- Jonathan Ridler of New Zealand
- Yvette Dickson Tetteh of Ghana
- Sarah Thomas of the USA
- Dr. Mostafa Zaki of Egypt [shown above on right]
- Ryan Leong of Hawaii [shown below]
- Stefan Reinke of Hawaii [shown below]
Two of the key supporters of this swim are Kristen Lindblad and Sven-Olof Lindblad.
Kristin is an scuba diver, kite surfer, and ocean swimmer based in both Maui and Charleston, South Carolina. As a bilingual journalist, photographer, and writer, she has published works in Scientific American, Newsweek, and Virgin.
She also serves as ambassador and adviser to Oceanic Global, Beneath the Waves, WildAid, Ocean Unite, the Reefline of Blue Lab Preservation Society, PangeaSeed Foundation, and Cultural Sanctuaries Foundation. She also runs the Wanderlust Fund that provides critical funding to organizations dedicated to cultural and environmental protection, global relief efforts, children, and the arts – like the Epic Maui Swim.
In 2018, Kristin launched OCEANSCAPES, an artivism platform inspired by years of collaborative ocean exploration and experiential insight. Combining art with storytelling and science, OCEANSCAPES reveals the power of beauty to inspire both empathy and action.
Sven is a similarly talented photographer whose work has appeared in Smithsonian Magazine and National Geographic Magazines in addition to his published photography books on Alaska, Baja California and Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park.
He has photographed elephants and wildlife in Kenya and assisted filmmakers on a documentary about the destruction of African rain forests. His early exposure to nature and wildlife taught him the importance of maintaining natural resources and understanding the cultural background of remote regions of the world.
In 1979, Sven launched Lindblad Expeditions, an innovative travel company offering marine-focused expeditions aboard small ships. Lindblad has built his company around a core tenet: to provide travelers the opportunity to discover for themselves the natural, cultural and historic regions of the world and to provide thoughtful approaches that make such travels enriching, responsible, safe, fun and memorable.
In 2004, Lindblad formed a multifaceted strategic alliance with National Geographic that combines the strengths of these two pioneers in global exploration with the goal of further inspiring the world through expedition travel. This mission, coupled with the company’s longstanding commitment to conservation, has positioned Lindblad Expeditions at the forefront of environmentally sensitive expedition travel and resulted in numerous travel and environmental awards.
The United Nations Environment Programme also recognized Lindblad’s accomplishments, naming him to their Global 500 roll of honor.
Lindblad is a member of the General Assembly of the Charles Darwin Foundation for the Galapagos Islands; serves on the Board of The Safina Center and on the Board of Trustees of RARE; is a founding Ocean Elders which brings together global leaders to pursue the protection of the ocean’s habitat and wildlife; and serves on the Board of Advisors for Pristine Seas.
What a team.
For more information, visit www.epicswimmaui.com.
© 2024 Daily News of Open Water Swimming
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