It would have been easy for Ridzwan Rahim to get professional swimmers to complete the ‘Terengganu Four Swims’ project he envisioned four years ago.
But the 47-year-old writer wanted to prove a point – if he could do it, there was no reason why anyone else couldn’t.
The ‘Terengganu Four Swims’ are swim challenges from Pulau Perhentian to the mainland, Pulau Redang to the mainland, Pulau Lang Tengah to Pulau Perhentian, and Pulau Redang to Pulau Lang Tengah.
“I only learnt to swim when I was 32. So, if someone like me can achieve these marathon swims, there is no excuse for anyone else to say they can’t,” said Ridzwan, the first person in history to complete the swims.
“My idea has always been to promote the beauty of the Terengganu islands. There is an event called the Perhentian Island Marathon Swim Challenge, where participants swim 16km around the island.
“That got me thinking that if participants can swim 16km around one island, why not swim from one island to the next, or the mainland, as the distances are similar.”
Now that the four swims are over, Ridzwan has set his sights on developing sports and water tourism in Terengganu and around Malaysia via ‘WTF Swims’.
The designer of the board game commissioned to commemorate Ridzwan’s feat – Cedric Gan – suggested it be called ‘Wan’s Terengganu Four Swims’, but Ridzwan has decided on ‘Wonderful Terengganu Four (WTF) Swims’ as he doesn’t want it to sound like a vanity project.
“Although I did the swims, the focus should be on Terengganu. We stuck with the acronym as we wanted a catchy name,” said Ridzwan, who remembers competing in the Sharkfest Swim from Alcatraz Island to San Francisco City in 2015 and 2016.
“Everybody remembers Sharkfest. I want ‘WTF Swims’ to be on everyone’s lips, too.”
Besides Sharkfest Swim, another event in the same waters – the Odyssey Alcatraz Swim – is an annual friendly swim in an exciting, safe environment and attracts 300-500 swimmers.
Ridzwan hopes his ‘WTF Swims’ will be able to attract similar attention in the future. He will start with two Australian swimmers who have signed up for October’s Perhentian Island Marathon Swim Challenge.
The two have engaged Ridzwan and his team to help them navigate the South China Sea as they attempt to swim from the mainland to Pulau Perhentian – a distance of 17km. Their families will be waiting for them on the island.
“Hopefully, we can grow the sport so that more swimmers attempt the ‘WTF Swims’,” said Ridzwan, who also gives motivational talks.
On July 14, Ridzwan completed the multi-year project when he swam from Pulau Redang to Pulau Lang Tengah. He took six hours, seven minutes and 22 seconds. The distance between the islands is 10km, but Ridzwan covered a distance of 12.8km.
Ridzwan’s team consisted of Abdul Razak Abdul Aziz (team leader), Mohd Hafizuddin Amlin (kayaker), Shamsul Hamimi Ab Rahman (lead observer), Tsuyoshi Amzar Sawada (observer), Tania Bugo (observer), Muhammad Fajrul Hazreen Zainal (medic), Nicholus Law Kiun Hwa (feeder), Muhammad Aqil Azfar Khalili (photographer and videographer), and four support swimmers – Shauqie Aziz, Hakimi Radzi, Kenneth Chang, and Jo-Ee Gwee.
The boat crew consisted of skippers Shamzur Azren Che Samaon, Mohd Nazuan Azharrudin, and Abdullah Mamat, and boat hands Muhammad Adam Harif Mohd Rasib, Muhammad Ibnur Sinar Jusoh, Muhammad Hairy, Muhammad Muhaimin, Mohd Amir Sharifuddin Jawahil, and Rosdi Asmawi.
He completed his first challenge – from Pulau Perhentian to the mainland in March 2021, covering 17km in eight hours, 56 minutes and 30 seconds. In June 2023, the team completed the second challenge, swimming 25km from Pulau Redang to the mainland in 20 hours, 42 minutes and 26 seconds.
The third swim was in March this year when he took 12 hours, 25 minutes and 15 seconds to cover a distance of 17km from Pulau Perhentian to Pulau Lang Tengah.
“Besides promoting the Terengganu islands, my project was to create awareness about water safety,” said Ridzwan, who partnered with Project Life Aquatic and Universiti Malaysia Terengganu Institute of Oceanography and Environment (INOS UMT).
“Sadly, swimming is not a compulsory subject in school, even though every state in Malaysia – apart from the Federal Territories of Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur – has a coastline.”
Project Life Aquatic is a five-year project anchored by the Malaysian-Japan International Institute of Technology (MJIIT) of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. It aims to uplift Malaysia’s water safety, swimming, and lifesaving education to world-class standards.
Project Life Aquatic conducts its ‘Swim & Survive Malaysia’ course every Monday at the Darul Ehsan Aquatics Centre in Shah Alam.
Ridzwan is right to be worried about water safety, as Deputy Energy Transition and Water Transformation Minister Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir said last year that there was an average of 268 drowning deaths in Malaysia annually.
Akmal Nasrullah added that the World Health Organisation estimated that 40 people drown every hour, globally.
“If what we do can help save lives, then our efforts would be worth it,” said the father of four.
Ridzwan’s journey demonstrates how passion and perseverance can make any dream a reality.
