Endurance athlete Neil Agius had swam non-stop for 80km on Sunday afternoon as he continued his attempt to achieve a record-breaking 160km swim around Malta, Gozo and Comino. 

Agius kicked off his attempt on Saturday at Mellieħa’s Għadira Bay shortly after 9 am. 

At 2pm on Sunday, he had swam clockwise around Malta, made it to Gozo and was rounding the sister island, en-route back to Malta.

He was being cheered along by supporters on a small flotilla of boats.  

Apart from supporting and feeding Neil, his team also took to social media to keep the public updated on the swimmer's process. 

In one video, the crew are seen preparing Neil’s food, while observers recorded the sea’s temperature. 

"So far he has not complained, he is swimming very strong and solidly," Dr Angie Rogers, a swimmer and friend of Neilshe said.

The gruelling challenge is expected to take three days to complete. 

If successful, Agius will break the current world record for the longest non-stop unassisted, current neutral sea swim, which he holds. 

He set the record back in 2021, when he swam from Linosa to Malta for a distance of 125.7km and finished in Xlendi, Gozo. 

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

Agius is using the swim to raise awareness about the state of Malta’s marine habitat aiming to raise awareness about critical environmental issues and inspire a collective commitment to protecting the Mediterranean Sea.