Epic Swim Maui Will Circumnavigate Island While Pushing For Ocean Health, Honoring Duke Kahanamoku
Over the next few weeks, 14 open water swimmers from around the world will circumnavigate the island of Maui. The event, entitled Epic Swim Maui, is the first event in the Global Expedition Swim Series, with the goal of promoting ocean health and scientific research and to honor Duke Kahanamoku, the only Olympic gold medalist in swimming from Hawaii who also helped popularize surfing worldwide.
“This is a this is a world’s first circumnavigation swim around Maui, Hawaii, to usher in the age of expeditions swimming. This is this is the proof of concept that ultimately, we’re planning on taking around the world,” swim founder Robby Seeger said.
“The idea is that we have is really that the best open water swimmers from six continents coming together for the first time and they’re actually swimming together. We’re moving it out of the soul aspect of the sport for the bigger discussion around ocean health that that is happening globally.”
No swimmer has ever covered the 190 miles (300 km) around Maui, and in keeping with the organizers’ focus on sustainability, the event is advertised as carbon-neutral and plans to enlist native Hawaiians as watermen and women to guide and aid the athletes. Seeger emphasizes that this is an expedition swim and not a race, with successful completion and raising awareness the key goals rather than time and place.
Participants in the swim include Hawaii’s John Kaleimakali’i Clark, Ryan Leong and Stefan Reinke, Scotland’s Andrew Donaldson, Chile’s Barbara Hernandez, India’s Prabhat Koli, New Zealand’s Jonathan Ridler, Ghana’s Yvette Tetteh, the United States’ Sarah Thomas, Egypt’s Mostafa Zaki, Croatia’s Dina Levačić, France’s Marion Joffle, South Africa’s Sarah Ferguson and Australia’s Paul Blackbeard.
Photo Courtesy: Dayanidhi Das
Each of these swimmers has already posted a rare accomplishment in the world of ultramarathon swimming, such as Thomas being the only swimmer to complete a nonstop, four-way English Channel swim.
The community aspect of open water swimming is a key focus here, and race organizers firmly believe in the sport’s power to unite people, particularly with the assistance of key partners’ donations: TRISWIM hair and body products, Dermasport facial skin care, Sharkbanz wearable shark deterrent, Infinit Nutrition, FINIS Goggles, DMC Fins and TRISLIDE anti-chafe skin lubricant.
When Hernandez recently completed a crossing of the Sea of Japan, the seventh swim of the Oceans Seven, the Epic Swim Maui’s official Instagram account said, “The camaraderie & solidarity shared amongst open water swimmers is something that transcends oceans. Despite the distance between us all, celebrating Barbara’s achievement brought us all a bit closer last week.”
The Epic Swim Maui is connected to the United Nations Ocean Decade, an initiative designed to generate important knowledge of the world’s oceans and promote sustainability. In connection with the swim, water samples will be collected for international studies on microplastics and “forever chemicals” that disturb natural ocean environments. In addition to these professionally-led studies, there are plans to provide research opportunities to local Maui students.
Seeger hopes that the swim can elevate local stories of Hawaii and its culture through storytelling, including work by documentary filmmaker Stefan Schaefer. As the swim passes along the island through 12 Moku, the communities into which the island is divided, each group will tell their own unique stories of their connection to the natural environment.
Photo Courtesy: Dayanidhi Das
“This is not another white man telling a Hawaiian story. This is we’re just building the international platform for those stories to come to light,” Seeger said. “Indigenous knowledge paired with high end technology and science is really a beautiful combination for future resource management. So it’s ultimately understanding the past to build the future.”
Seeger acknowledged that completing a full circuit in a single direction “might be difficult” because of tidal conditions on the southeast side of the island. “You’re going to have 30 to 40 knots of headwinds,” he said, so organizers are planning to split the swim. He expects the swimmers to go about 20 kilometers per day in the ocean, and they will also have days off swimming throughout the event for community engagement.
Finally, the Epic Swim Maui will honor Kahanamoku’s legacy on the 100th anniversary of his last Olympic medal at the 1924 Games, held in Paris just like this year’s Olympics. Clark is actually Kahanamoku’s great-nephew, and he is one of the participants in a swim designed to channel the spirit of the legendary swimmer and surfer.
“We want to we want to perpetuate Duke’s stewardship, his creative aloha,” Seeger said. “He said, ‘When we’re in the water, it doesn’t matter where we come from. We’re all the same.’ There is that aspect of connectivity that is so important in our modern society. It is important that you talk to your neighbor, get involved in your community.”
To tune in and watch the race live, go to @epicswimmaui on Instagram and experience the inaugural expedition.