Mr Colting, who led the epic swim, was joined by his training partners Thobias Peterson and Daniel Karlsson Engdahl throughout the eight legs of the trek.
Cheers and applause greeted the weary but fulfilled swimmers as they rose from the water and broke the finish tape at Mai Khao Beach, where they had embarked eight days earlier. To complete the ordeal, the three swam about 17 kilometres each day, from 6am to 1pm.
The swim followed a counter-clockwise route around Phuket, passing the Andaman beaches, the island’s southernmost point Phrom Thep Cape, and Chalong Pier. The route then turned northward to Ao Por Pier, passing under the Sarasin Bridge before ending at Mai Khao.
Aside from the mammoth total distance of over 140 kilometres, the team also prevailed against strong head winds, currents, jellyfish and the heat.
“I was aware of the big challenges being the heat and the sun. We took lots of proactive measures like getting in the water early in the morning, lots of sunscreen, and some young coconut every day after finishing,” Mr Colting said.
Characteristic of ultra-distance athletes, Mr Colting and his crew adapted to the workload and felt stronger every day along the way. “The winds, tides and waves have been harder than expected, especially since they haven´t been in our favour for the most part. So it’s been slow going with longer swims than I had planned.”
Thanyapura President Philipp Graf von Hardenberg was on hand to welcome the swimmers to the finish line on Wednesday. “We are extremely proud to have been part of making history,” he said.
“At Thanyapura we had a dream to organize a swim around the island of Phuket. Thanks to Jonas who dared to dream with us and made it into a reality.”
The group had the advantage of support and service from Thanyapura Phuket, their home base while on the island preparing for the event, which was organized in conjunction with Thanyapura Phuket and Apollo Sports Sweden from Scandinavia,
Phuket Governor Chamroen Tipayapongtada praised the team and their support. “We are proud that someone has made history to be the first man to swim around the beautiful island of Phuket,” he said.
“This is a great activity to showcase Phuket as a sports and tourism hub of Asia. Big congratulations to Jonas, his team and to the organizers.”
Mr Colting said, “It’s been great to feel the support of everyone involved in this project and the great organisation behind! As hard as it is to swim every day, supporting and organizing is probably just as hard and I’ve been very impressed by the dedication of those in the support team. The island of Phuket is truly beautiful and it’s a pleasure to experience it from the water.”
The organizers plan to make Swim Around Phuket an annual event attracting marathon swimmers from all over the world to join in this challenge.
The record-setting swim event received support from a wide range pro-Phuket agnecies and businesses, including Phuket Provincial Office, Apollo Travel Group, Thanyapura, Lee Marine (which provided the support boat), Oceanline Sunscreen, Yaowawit School, JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa, Mai Khao, the Mai Khao Marine Turtle Foundation, Sports & Tourism of Thailand Phuket, and the Marine Police and the Marine Department Phuket office.
To view Jonas Colting’s Swim Around Phuket on YouTube, see here:
Episode 1 http://youtu.be/QOfJdjOx7sw
Episode 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6oNOIiTYCs
Episode 3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7v59bDtsGoM
Episode 4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zH1XMxaUiBk
Episode 5 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pk77UOFOvkM
Episode 6 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7M97QdIsL2E