Ultra-endurance athlete and clean seas activist Neil Agius began his attempt to swim 160km in open waters around Malta and Gozo on Saturday, looking to break a world record he himself holds.
Agius waded into clear waters at Mellieħa’s Għadira Bay shortly after 9am, as a crowd of supporters and well-wishers looked on and cheered.
He swam out of the bay accompanied by a squad of young swimmers and a team of support crew that included skippers, medical staff, and other volunteers.
From there, he headed southeast. Agius intends to swim clockwise around Malta and Gozo. The route around the entire archipelago is around 100 km, but Agius plans to swim further 60km to cover a total distance of 160km.
Agius expects the challenge, dubbed the 'Small Island, Big Swim', to take him three days to complete. He will eat and drink every 30 minutes while remaining in the water at all times. He is forbidden from making physical contact with any of the support boats that will follow him as he swims.
Agius’ progress is being tracked and displayed online in real-time using a GPS tracker. As of 11.45am, he was approaching the coast of Qawra.
If successful, he will break the current world record for the longest non-stop, unassisted, current neutral sea swim.
Agius set that record himself when he swam 125.7km from Linosa to Malta in 2021.
This is Agius’ first attempt at breaking the record after he was forced to abandon a similar swim in Spain last year.
Inclement weather threatened to disrupt his plans this year too, but Agius' teams opted to go ahead with the swim after consulting weather analysts.
Public encouraged to join clean-up events
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.
To mark the event, three clean-up events are being held across the weekend in collaboration with NGO Wave of Change and marine clean-up specialists Żibel: a Saturday morning clean-up at Spinola Bay, a Sunday morning (10am) clean-up at St Thomas Bay, Marsascala and a Sunday afternoon (3pm) clean-up at Ġnejna Bay, Mġarr.
Members of the public can register their interest in attending the clean-ups here and they will be informed by email once the location and times are confirmed.
Spaces are limited to 50 people per clean-up, so the public are being encouraged to register their interest as soon as possible and join in.
Harnessing ‘The Ocean Mindset’
Central to Agius’ preparation has been his self-developed ‘Ocean Mindset’ technique — a mental framework that complements his intense physical training.
Agius says that mindset helps him stay mentally sharp, navigate challenges, and confront the unexpected obstacles that come with this kind of world-first attempt.
GO, which is sponsoring Agius in his attempt to smash the record books, has said that it intends to offer 'Ocean Mindset' training to all its staff to help them manage stress, communicate more effectively and take care of their wellbeing.
Agius' swim is also supported by VisitMalta, Atlas Insurance and Cisk 0.0, as well as Kia, Garmin and Maypole.