| SS3: China | |
|---|---|
| |
| Winner | Stephen Fishbach |
| Runner-up | Sandra Diaz-Twine |
| 2nd Runner-up | Ian Rosenberger |
| No. of Episodes | 15 |
| No. of Days | 39 |
| No. of Castaways | 18 |
| Tribes | ██ Fei Long ██ Zhan Hu ██ Hae Da Fung |
| Opening Sequence | |
 | |
| Production | |
| Location(s) | Zhelin Reservoir, China |
| Original Run | March 12, 2013 - June 12, 2013 |
| Chronology | |
| Previous Season | SS2: Fans & Favorites |
| Next Season | SS4: Cook Islands |
Swimmer's Survivor: China is the 3rd installment of Swimmer's Survivor. The season features eighteen brand new castaways competing for the title of Sole Survivor.
Announcement/Production
SS3: China was first announced on March 10th, 2013 after the release of a sign-up video. The casting for the season called for new players who had not competed before in a previous SS season. The offical cast of SS3 was released on March 12th, featuring the 16 players in SS3. However, after the first two eliminations of Cochran and Fabio, two more players debuted: Ian and Cirie, thus rounding out the cast at 18.
Twists/Changes
Debuts: Originally, SS3 was supposed to only feature sixteen contestants. However, following the eliminations of Cochran and Fabio, two new players debuted: Ian and and Cirie. Ian became a member of the Fei Long tribe, and Cirie became a member fo the Zhan Hu tribe on Day 7.
Tribe Swap: Like in SS2, this season featured a tribe swap, which occured after the first six eliminations.
Extended Jury: This season was expected to have a final 3 with a 7-person jury. However, after Jay was blindsided right before the merge and came in eleventh place, it was revealed that Jay became the first member of the jury, which explains the 8-person jury this season.
Castaways
| Contestant | Tribe Affiliation | Finish | Votes Against | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Original Tribe | Post-Swap Tribe | Merged Tribe | ||||
|
John Cochran |
Fei Long | 1st Voted Out Day 3 |
7 | ||
|
Fabio Birza |
Zhan Hu | 2nd Voted Out Day 6 |
5 | ||
|
Natalie Bolton |
Fei Long | 3rd Voted Out Day 8 |
8 | ||
|
Laura Alexander |
Zhan Hu | 4th Voted Out Day 11 |
10 | ||
|
J.T. Thomas |
Zhan Hu | 5th Voted Out Day 14 |
5 | ||
|
Eddie Fox |
Fei Long | 6th Voted Out Day 14 |
6 | ||
|
Benry Henry |
Zhan Hu | Zhan Hu | 7th Voted Out Day 18 |
3 | |
|
Fei Long | Zhan Hu | 8th Voted Out 1st Jury Member Day 21 |
4 | ||
|
Brandon Hantz |
Zhan Hu | Fei Long | Hae Da Fung | 9th Voted Out 2nd Jury Member Day 23 |
11 |
|
Sherri Biethman |
Zhan Hu | Zhan Hu | 10th Voted Out 3rd Jury Member Day 25 |
12 | |
|
Cirie Fields |
Zhan Hu | Fei Long | 11th Voted Out 4th Jury Member Day 27 |
8 | |
|
Francesca Hogi |
Zhan Hu | Fei Long | 12th Voted Out 5th Jury Member Day 30 |
6 | |
|
Amanda Kimmel |
Fei Long | Fei Long | 13th Voted Out 6th Jury Member Day 33 |
4 | |
|
Lisa Whelchel |
Fei Long | Fei Long | 14th Voted Out 7th Jury Member Day 36 |
6 | |
|
Kat Edorsson |
Fei Long | Zhan Hu | 15th Voted Out 8th Jury Member Day 38 |
4 | |
|
Ian Rosenberger |
Fei Long | Fei Long | Second Runner-Up |
22 | |
|
Sandra Diaz-Twine |
Zhan Hu | Zhan Hu | Runner-Up | 1 | |
|
Stephen Fishbach |
Fei Long | Zhan Hu | Sole Survivor | 1 | |
Season Summary
SS3 started out with 16 brand new castaways being split into two tribe of eight: Fei Long and Zhan Hu. At the first immunity challenge, Zhan Hu pulled out a victory, thus sending Fein Long to tribal council, where they unanimously voted out their weak link: Cochran. At the following immunity challenge, Fei Long turned things around by winning the challenge, which meant Zhan Hu had to go to tribal. At tribal council, Brandon rallied a majority together and blindsided Fabio, leaving Sandra and JT on the outs and putting the fate of the tribe in the hands of Brandon. However, the next day, everyone was shocked when two contestants debuted: Ian and Cirie. Ian joined the Fei Long tribe and Cirie joined the Zhan Hu tribe. With the two entering the game, that brought the numbers back up to 16, and the tribes were still even. At the immunity challenge, the power once again flipped when Zhan Hu won. At his first tribal council, Ian was targeted, but it was Natalie who was unanimously voted out for being the weakest one on the tribe. When Fei Long won the next challenge and Zhan Hu was forced to go to tribal council, it was evident that Sandra and JT were in serious danger of going home. However, Stephen and Jay from Fei Long played into Brandon's paranoia by convincing him that his own ally Laura was targeting him. Brandon took the bait and got Laura voted out, thus sparing Sandra and JT.
The next day, both tribes learned that they would be competing for individual immunity because BOTH tribes would be going to tribal council. In the end, Jay and Sherri won immunity, thus protecting them at their respective tribal councils. At Zhan Hu's tribal, JT was voted out, leaving Sandra all alone on her tribe. At Fei Long's tribal council, Eddie became the target and was unanimously voted out for being too likable and social.
Then, another twist occurred in the game: a tribe swap. Stephen, Jay, and Kat switched with Brandon, Francesca, and Cirie. And when Fei Long won the challenge, Zhan Hu had to go to tribal council. Because she had been on the outs of her old tribe, Sandra felt no remorse when she flipped on her tribe mates by aligning with the Fei Long members on her tribe, thus sealing the fate of Benry. When Zhan Hu lost another immunity challenge, it seemed as though Sherri's time was up, but in a stunning blindside, she played an idol and took out one of the biggest threats in the game: Jay.
After Jay's elimination, the remaining 10 castaways merged, thus forming one tribe: Hae Da Fung. Despite lots of flipping and realigning of alliances, Brandon was voted out of the newly merged tribe, leaving only nine left in the game. Sherri and Francesca were on the outs, but they managed to flip several Fei Long members to their side, thus getting a majority of 5 to vote out Ian. But at tribal council, Ian played an idol and foiled the blindside, taking out Sherri in the process. At the final 8, the two alliances were even 4 vs 4, but when Lisa tricked Sandra into throwing her vote away on Stephen, Cirie was blindsided, thus leaving Ian and Stephen as the only two guys on a tribe full of women. However, at the next vote, Ian and Stephen created a fake message convincing Lisa and Amanda that their own ally Francesca was targeting Lisa. The plan worked out Lisa and Amanda voted with Stephen and Ian and blindsided Francesca.
However, after learning that they were duped, Lisa and Amanda targeted Ian and Stephen, but it was too late, because the two guys had flipped Sandra and Kat, and convinced them to vote out Amanda for being too big of a jury threat. At the final 5, Lisa was on the outs, and she was in serious danger when she didn't win immunity. But Lisa tried rallying the women together to take out the boys. She managed to flip Kat, but in the end, Ian, Stephen, and Sandra voted out Lisa in a 3-2 vote. And after Kat failed to win the final immunity challenge, she paid the price for going against the alliance by being voted out and made the final member of the jury.
At final tribal council, Stephen secured the win and title of Sole Survivor after getting 5 jury votes, which beat Sandra's 2 votes and Ian's 1 vote.
Episode Guide
| Episode | Air date | Immunity Challenge |
Eliminated | Vote | Finish | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Consensus | April 25th, 2013 | Zhan Hu | Cochran | 7-1 | 1st Voted Out Day 3 |
| 2 | Unpredictability | April 26th, 2013 | Fei Long | Fabio | 5-3 | 2nd Voted Out Day 6 |
| 3 | Blood On My Hands | April 30th, 2013 | Zhan Hu | Natalie | 7-1 | 3rd Voted Out Day 8 |
| 4 | So Paranoid | May 4th, 2013 | Fei Long | Laura | 4-4 6-0 |
4th Voted Out Day 11 |
| 5 | As Long As It Ain't Me | May 7th, 2013 | Sherri | J.T. | 5-2 | 5th Voted Out Day 14 |
| Jay | Eddie | 6-1 | 6th Voted Out Day 14 | |||
| 6 | Safe Zone | May 10th, 2013 | Fei Long | Benry | 3-2-1 | 7th Voted Out Day 18 |
| 7 | Take Control | May 12th, 2013 | Fei Long | Jay | 3-1-1 3-0 |
8th Voted Out 1st Jury Member Day 21 |
| 8 | Split | May 15th, 2013 | Sherri | Brandon | 5-5 6-2 |
9th Voted Out 2nd Jury Member Day 23 |
| 9 | Shift The Power | May 26th, 2013 | Lisa | Sherri | 5-4 | 10th Voted Out 3rd Jury Member Day 25 |
| 10 | Up In The Air | May 30th, 2013 | Sandra | Cirie | 4-3-1 | 11th Voted Out 4th Jury Member Day 27 |
| 11 | Do Something | June 3rd, 2013 | Sandra | Francesca | 4-3 | 12th Voted Out 5th Jury Member Day 30 |
| 12 | Retaliation | June 5th, 2013 | Lisa | Amanda | 4-2 | 13th Voted Out 6th Jury Member Day 33 |
| 13 | Hot Waters | June 6th, 2013 | Stephen | Lisa | 3-2 | 13th Voted Out 7th Jury Member Day 36 |
| 14 | It Ends Tonight | June 8th, 2013 | Stephen | Kat | 3-1 | 13th Voted Out 8th Jury Member Day 38 |
| 15 | SS3 Finale | June 12th, 2013 | Jury Vote | Ian | 5-2-1 | 2nd Runner-Up |
| Sandra | Runner-Up | |||||
| Stephen | Sole Survivor | |||||