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Phuket makes history with its first swim around island event

Swim Around Phuket 02 500x300

Phuket, 7 April, 2016 – Eight-day swim trek around the island of Phuket completed for the first time ever on 6 April, 2016 by Swedish Ultramanm, Mr. Jonas Colting. He was joined by his training partners Thobias Peterson and Daniel Karlsson Engdahl throughout the eight legs of the swim trek, which is poised to become an annual event.

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 ago swimming approximately 17 kilometres daily from 06.00 – 13.00 Hrs.

Organized in conjunction with Thanyapura Phuket and Apollo Sports Sweden from Scandinavia, 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 Poh Pier, passing under the Sarasin Bridge before ending at Mai Khao.

Swim Around Phuket 01 500x300

Aside from the mammoth total distance of over 140 kilometres, the swimmers also prevailed against strong winds, currents, jellyfish, and the tropical heat.

Mr. Colting said, “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.”

Characteristics 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 favor for the most part. So it’s been slow going with longer swims than I had planned.”

The group also had the advantage of support and service from Thanyapura Phuket, their home base while on the island. Located in northern Phuket, Thanyapura is Asia’s top sports training center that offers fitness, health and wellbeing programs set in world-class facilities. “Every day I’ve had a great massage and a ton of healthy food,” Mr. Colting revealed.

Thanyapura President, Mr. Philipp Graf von Hardenberg, was on hand to welcome the swimmers to the finish line. “We are extremely proud to have been part of making history,” he said. “At Thanyapura we had a dream to organise a swim around the island of Phuket. Thanks to Jonas who dared to dream with us and made it into a reality.”

Phuket Governor Mr. Chamroen Tipayapongtada said, “We are proud that someone has made history to be the first man to swim around the beautiful island of Phuket. 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 organisers.”

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 organising 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 organisers plan to make Swim Around Phuket an annual event attracting marathon swimmers from all over the world to join in this challenging

View Jonas Colting’s Swim Around Phuket on YouTube:

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

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The TAT International Public Relations Division works with traditional and online media channels to promote Thailand as a tourism destination for travellers worldwide.

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