Neil Agius given hero’s welcome after gruelling 140km swim sets new world record

Ultra-endurance athlete and clean seas activist Neil Agius swam some 140km for 60 hours around Malta and Gozo to set a new world record. 

On Monday night, Agius swam through a rough swell into Għar Lapsi, the south-west of the island, shortly after 9.30 pm, visibly exhausted but buoyed by the cheers of hundreds of supporters who gathered for the end of the ‘Small Island, Big Swim’ challenge.

He staggered up a ladder out of the water, unaided, as the crowd waited in still silence until he eventually made it to his feet.

Medical responders crowded to cover him in blankets and give him a medical exam. 

He was greeted by dignitaries, including Prime Minister Robert Abela, sports minister Clifton Grima, and Opposition Whip David Agius.

The swim will now have to be ratified by the World Open Water Swimming Association, the governing body that oversees this ultra endurance sport.  

Agius set off from Għadira Bay, Mellieħa, shortly after 9am on Saturday morning. 

From there he swam out from the bay accompanied by a squad of young swimmers and a team of support crew that included skippers, medical staff, and several other volunteers. 

He then headed southeast and swam along a route that wraps clockwise around Malta.

He swam throughout the night, and on Sunday he circumnavigated Gozo before heading back to Malta. 

Off the coast of Marsaxlokk, after 52 hours of continuous swimming, he smashed through the previous world record of 125km which he himself had set back in 2021. 

Throughout the final leg of the swim, weather conditions deteriorated and became tricky with outbursts of rain, strong currents, winds, and an increasing sea swell. 

All these made this a far more challenging swim than in previous attempts.

Neil had already set a world record when he swam from Linosa to Malta covering a distance of 125.7km in 2021. That swim had also taken 52 hours.  

Since then, there have been several attempts but no one has managed to break this record officially.

This is Agius’s first attempt at breaking the record after he was forced to abandon a similar swim in Spain last year. 

At the time he had been forced to leave the water after having been  surrounded by a massive swarm of jellyfish.  

Since then he has been training, and said ahead of this swim that he felt he was stronger than ever and prepared for the challenge.  

Agius used the swim to raise awareness about the state of Malta’s marine habitat in collaboration with NGO Wave of Change and marine clean-up specialists Żibel.

Żibel coordinated three coastal clean ups during the swim, with a third and final on planned for Monday postponed due to bad weather.  

So far the collaboration has seen some 790kg of marine waste collected by volunteers who gathered in Spinola Bay, St Julian’s on Saturday, and St Thomas Bay, Marsascala, on Sunday. 

The public was also invited to collect waste on their own and deposit it in specialised Żibel bins located across the country.  

All waste collected will be sorted and the aim is to use them to power fully-circular projects.