Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.

Matt Moseley and his support team, including coach Randy Soler, are planning to do a 3-day 50-mile stage swim called The Swim Across The Caribbean between July 17th and 19th. This unprecedented stage swim will be start on St. John’s, head to St. Thomas on Day 1. Then Moseley will head from St. Thomas to Vieques on Day 2, and then will swim from Vieques to Puerto Rico on Day 3, ending with a celebration at Puerto Del Rey Marina.

The swim is a benefit for the Scuba Dogs Society that protects coral reefs and beaches, and the Colorado-based Inland Ocean Coalition that proves that people do not need to live on the ocean in order to care about it.

“The adventure will combine science and swimming. The 5 Gyres Institute will monitor microplastics through a specific protocol for one of the first data sets of plastic content in the Caribbean Sea. The journey is being documented by renowned director of photography John Mans,” explains Moseley.

“I think of swimming as a performance art project that are vessels to tell the story of water and the organizations who work hard to protect it. My swims are moveable festivals with art and music. It has taken two years of planning and training to put this together. We have a great team and the momentum has been building.

“There has been very little microplastic research conducted in the Caribbean making our involvement in the Swim Across The Caribbean critical to a global understanding of the plastic pollution problem,” said Carolynn Box, Science Program Director at 5 Gyres, an environmental group that empowers others to take action towards solutions to plastic pollution. “The data collected will be incorporated into our global dataset to help support policies and efforts to ban single use plastics, such as styrofoam takeout containers, which we are targeting through our current #foamfree Action Campaign.”

“Scuba Dogs Society is proud to be a partner in this event that promotes awareness of the protection of oceans and is very much in line with our environmental education and coastal and underwater clean-up initiatives,” said Silmarie Sanchez, executive director of Scuba Dogs Society. “The objective is to have clean and healthy waters for healthy growth of marine and terrestrial ecosystems, and human health.”

“We are excited to be part of this swim and the first citizen science monitoring project for plastic pollution in the Caribbean,” said Vicki Nichols Goldstein, founder and executive director of the Inland Ocean Coalition, a movement that builds land-to sea stewardship. “We live on an ocean planet and the key ingredients to building an inland movement for oceans and clean water is to ignite community engagement, support key legislative efforts, facilitate learning partnerships, and create cultural shifts through education. This swim is an opportunity to illustrate both our connection to dependence on the ocean.”

“Bobo’s believes in the spirit of determinism, as in ‘where there is a will, there is a way,’” said Beryl Stafford, founder and president of Bobo’s Oat Bars. “Matt Moseley embodies such determinism with his vision for inventing ridiculous open water swim routes and combining them with great water-protecting causes like 5 Gyres and Scuba Dog Society. We are proud to partner and support Matt’s big Caribbean swim, wish him luck and strength, and encourage people to also join him in protecting our great oceans.”

Moseley plans to start swimming at 5:00 am on July 17th. Swim from St. John Harbor to Sapphire Beach, St. Thomas. Team will rest after swim. He will start swimming again at 8:00 pm from St. Thomas to Vieques. He plans to swim 24 miles through the night.

On July 18th, he plans to arrive at W Hotel in Vieques sometime between 8:00 to 10:00 am. The team will have lunch on Vieques.

On July 19th, he will start at 5:00 am to start swimming from Punta Arenas, Vieques, with the planned finish in Puerto Del Rey about noon.

The team includes swimmer Matthew Moseley, Charles Moseley (son and first mate), coach Randy Soler, Mark Williams (observer, paddler, nutrition, ninja), John Mans (videographer), escort pilot Michael Feduccia (Captain of 46-foot catamaran), navigator Pedro Umpierre, Carolynn Box of 5 Gyres and plastic sampling, Vicki Goldstein of Inland Ocean Coalition, Silmarie Sanchez of Scuba Dogs Society, Beryl Stafford of Bobo’s Oat Bars, and writer Amanda McCraken.

Steven Munatones has followed Mosely on his lake, river and ocean swims over his career, “Matthew is one contemporary swimmer who stands out for his uniquely joyful approach to the sport. He combines the physical toughness of an endurance athlete with the right-brain creativity of an artist.”

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