Endurance swimmer Neil Agius has had to cut short his attempt to swim three laps around Gozo in three days after labouring through bad weather and almost risking hypothermia. 

The 34-year-old former Olympian was attempting the challenge as part of his training for a 153km swim from Tunisia to Sicily.

He said in a Facebook post on Wednesday that he was three hours into his third lap of Gozo when his body temperature dropped and he decided to end the swim early. He had already skipped a 12 hour rest break between his second and third swim to try to avoid force five winds.

“I felt that I could have pushed myself for at least another four hours, but knowing that there were 10 hours left, I thought it best to stop and not risk getting hypothermia, or injured before the big swim.”

As part of his official training, Agius planned to swim around Gozo for three consecutive nights, each swim taking him around 12 hours. He started earlier this week on Monday. 

The environmental activist still plans to be the first person to complete a 50 hour non-stop Tunisia to Sicily swim later this month or in July.  

As part of his official training, Agius planned to swim around Gozo for three consecutive nights, each swim taking him around 12 hours. He started earlier this week on Monday. 

He said that he felt the swim was a success, as he accomplished three days of swimming in just over 41 hours in the water. 

Neil and his team swimming around Gozo in calm weather during Monday-Tuesday Photo: Kurt Arrigo

“I was happy how I pushed through the rough weather and choppy seas.” He thanked his team and other swimmers who jouned him half way into his second lap around Gozo. 

“Now it’s about putting my head down for the next four weeks to fine tune and perfect all the little things to have a successful Tunisa-Sicily crossing.”

This swim is supported by Wave of Change, a campaign Agius co-funded to raise awareness against plastic in the sea.

The foundation has launched the Double the Wave Challenge, with a goal of collectively picking up one million pieces of plastic.