He's done it! Neil Agius sets world record as he comes ashore in Ghar Lapsi
Ultra-endurance athlete and clean seas activist Neil Agius has set a new world record, as he ended his swim in Ghar Lapsi on Monday night, having covered a staggering 140 kilometres or so around the Maltese islands.His support team made the announcem
Ultra-endurance athlete and clean seas activist Neil Agius has set a new world record, as he ended his swim in Ghar Lapsi on Monday night, having covered a staggering 140 kilometres or so around the Maltese islands.
His support team made the announcement that Agius was coming ashore at Ghar Lapsi to end his swim at around 8:45pm, and the swimmer made it to land at around 9:35pm, an astonishing 60 hours and 30 minutes or so since he started his intrepid journey.
He staggered up a ladder out of the water 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 spokesman 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 by swimming from Linosa to Xlendi in Gozo
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.
The 38-year-old Olympian had been planning to hit the 160km mark, but to achieve this he would have had to swim along the eastern coast of Malta, which would have presented very few options to make landfall.
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.
Video: Tom Zammit Tabona
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