The conversation drifted, as conversations do when Tiger beer is involved, until it landed on sharks.
Dan Bolton — bottle in hand, documentary half-remembered — mentioned something called Shark Water by a filmmaker named Rob Stewart. The details were fuzzy. Lara Roberts declared her love for sharks with genuine conviction, then returned to her bucket of gin and tonic. Big Blue Tech Canada, a man whose nickname referenced a country less because of geography and more because of scale, contributed to the discussion while nursing a Bacardi Breezer garnished with a lime wedge of truly heroic proportions.
It was Jim Donaldson who steered the evening somewhere meaningful. Shark finning, he explained, was gutting populations worldwide — but awareness was growing. Rob Stewart was making waves. Sea Shepherd and Shark Guardian were fighting back. “We’re conservationists,” Jim said, as if this were obvious. “We should do something.”
He proposed a swim. Around the three islands of Koh Nang Yuan. Competitive. A fundraiser.
Dan agreed enthusiastically, then wandered off to the bathroom. Lara loved sharks. Canada squeezed cheese again, people parted and just like that — through equal parts inspiration and inebriation — Swim for Sharks was born. Jim, brought in Dr. Eco Jennifer Matthews from Big Blue Conservation and Gary Hawkes, owner of SSI Thailand and Sharkskin, secured corporate sponsorships, and rallied the entire island behind a single idea: a 3.4-kilometer swim around Koh Nang Yuan, the most stunning trio of islands in Thailand.
The event has since produced a wonderfully unlikely cast of champions — Canadian Commonwealth Games athletes, a Russian whose background remained diplomatically vague, a Kiwi triathlete, and a Dutch teenager named Bonk Stout. Then there’s Nick Bufton, the crowd’s perennial favourite, who after years of patient training swam 23 kilometres around Koh Tao and Koh Nang Yuan, and next week will swim 45 kilometres from Koh Phangan to Koh Tao — all in aid of sharks and Koh Tao’s dogs.
Join Us — 2026
The swim departs from Big Blue Diving on Saturday, 25th April. Registration opens at 9am. The trophy — handcrafted by Koh Tao artisan Rob Cooper — goes to the winner, temporarily. The current record is 45 minutes over 3.4 kilometres.
Think you can beat it?
SCHEDULE
Friday 24th April — Hacienda, 6:00pm Shark Guardian and Thai Whale Sharks public presentation
Saturday 25th April 9:00–11:30am — Registration, t-shirt and raffle sales at Crystal Dive & Big Blue Dive Center 11:30am — Meet for departure 12:00pm — Swim for Sharks begins 3:00pm — Return for group photo 6:30pm — After party: prizes, food, tattoos, raffle
REGISTER Fill in the registration form Here.
DONATE Swim + t-shirt — £18 / 800 Baht Swim only — £12 / 500 Baht
Register and pay in person on 24–25 April here at Big Blue Diving, Koh Tao.
Let’s make 2026 the biggest one yet.
