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Writer's pictureShark Guardian

Swim for sharks: A fin-tastic fundraiser making waves for shark conservation


Swim for Sharks
Swim for Sharks Koh Tao, Sep 2023

Swim for Sharks 2023 kicked off at the Hacienda Bar & Grill on Koh Tao on Friday, 22nd September. Shark Guardian Founder and Director Brendon Sing shared specific details about the history of Swim For Sharks, the format of the open water swim and snorkel for the next 2 days and also an educational shark presentation. This covered the evolution of sharks, myths and misconceptions, why we must protect and conserve sharks as well as different shark species.


Swim for Sharks Presentation
Swim for Sharks Presentation | Hacienda Bar & Grill

Everyone had a fun evening with around 100 members of the public, tourists, divers and dive professionals attending and joining in the excitement of this memorable event.


The 11th official Koh Tao Swim for Sharks was a 3.4km swim around Koh Nang Yuan islands. 20 competitive swimmers and 38 snorkelers/fun swimmers did an amazing swim with the first place trophy going to David White with a time of 56.41 min followed by 2nd and 3rd place swimmers Nick Bupton (57.49 min) and Rics Dyplt (58.46 min). The first placed female who also came overall 4th was Dianna Marinura finishing in 58.53 min.


Swim for Sharks 2023

Swim for Sharks Koh Tao 2023

In the evening of the race there was a celebration party and grand raffle draw at Maya Beach Bar in Sairee. A fun evening was had by all. Shark Guardian is massively grateful to all the local businesses who donated prizes for the raffle and everyone who celebrated a successful swim event after a 3 year hiatus.


Finally Swim For Sharks 2023 rounded off at Ban’s Dive Resort on Sunday 24th September with the kids swim event. Koh Tao Swim created a range of fun games for all ages of the 25 swimmers - from 2 to 10 years! From save the shark to an actual ‘Koh Nang Yuan Swim’ to mermaid swimming, there was smiles all around with this wonderful community activity. After the swim children enjoyed making shark hats, eating shark fruit and having their faces painted.


Swim for sharks kids
'Kids' Swim for Sharks event

A big thank you to:

  • Hacienda Bar & Grill for hosting the Swim for Sharks opening event and presentation

  • Big Blue Diving for providing their boat and crew for the main Swim for Sharks event

  • Maya Beach Club for hosting the Swim for Sharks after party, raffles and prizes evening

  • Ban's Diving Resort for hosting the 'Kids' Swim for Shark event and their team of volunteers throughout the event

  • Koh Tao Swim for the fun games and activities during the 'Kids' Swim for Sharks event

  • Aquamaster Thailand for sponsoring the Swim for Sharks t-shirts

  • Plas-Tao (making awesome recycled plastic products from bottle caps) for donating a carabiner prize for every swimmer

...for making this event happen. We would also like to thank the various businesses on Koh Tao for donating and sponsoring awesome prizes and vouchers towards the the Swim for Sharks Raffle. Your support is very much appreciated!


We look forward to the next Koh Tao Swim for Sharks 2024!


Swim for Sharks in now an epic international sensation with plans for hosting more events in many more various countries and locations around the world. More information coming soon!

Swim for Sharks 2023 Limited Edition T-Shirts is available for purchase HERE


Contact info@sharkguardian.org if you’d like to host your own Swim For Sharks event!

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