Marine photographer Kurt Arrigo captured Neil Agius’s epic 100-kilometre swim on camera, documenting the ‘superhuman’ feat from every angle, including from above for a sense of the surrounding expanse, together with underwater and sea-level shots.
The photographer, who has a long-standing natural affinity with the sea, and has covered several international marine events, formed part of the 17-strong Wave of Change team – an experience of camaraderie and community spirit – also sharing his vast knowledge of open-water swimming, which he has been doing for 15 years.
Arrigo joined the medics, navigators, feeders, captains, companions and motivators, whose hands-on, behind-the-scenes commitment and support to Agius’s mission was “priceless”, allowing him to focus on his record-breaking swim from Sicily to Malta.
Leaving land
Agius contended with various trying conditions presented by the different times of day during the 28-hour swim, beginning with his early-morning start, where Arrigo captured his meditative mindset as he prepared to leave land, unable to even see the horizon and knowing that he would only – “hopefully” – touch the shore again 100km later.
Fuelling up
Every 29 minutes, Agius fed for one minute and 30 seconds on carb-heavy, calorific liquid meals in bottles tied to a string. Like clockwork, his stopwatch vibrated every 29th minute.
On the menu were three tried-and-tested Dr Juice shakes, which were constantly blended aboard one of the sailing boats and alternated for variety in taste and texture to avoid monotony and counter the salty sensation.
In the middle of the pitch-black, cold night, a warm almond latte in a flask went down well too.
It was important that the food was easy to digest and absorb in a horizontal position, which could make swallowing difficult, and that nausea, bloating and an upset stomach were avoided.
Until his tongue swelled and got cut, preventing chewing, Agius also fuelled up on energy balls that reached him in containers at the end of a pole.
The mouth ends up so dry and salty that “the tongue practically starts to disintegrate” and Agius used a mouthwash to try and counteract this.
Replenishing the huge amount of calories being burnt, to avoid the body hitting a brick wall, was vital. It is also hard to realise how much you are sweating in the sea.
Medics meticulously monitored Agius’s water and food intake, down to his bodily functions, for the duration of the journey.
‘Calm power’
The weather window was meticulously planned for blissfully calm seas that allowed Arrigo to portray the power of Agius’s relentlessly consistent strokes – all 90,000 of them.
Behind every man…
Agius’s wife, Lara Vella, has been widely praised for her dedication, support, focus, leadership and for being “beyond hands-on”. She was in total control and had her eyes on him 99 per cent of the time.
“I wanted to capture this incredible connection between them as she looked out for him throughout,” he says about how he asked for the rib to slow down and Lara to shift slightly from her permanent position on the front of the boat to grab this shot.
From above
Bird’s-eye views give the challenge its true perspective – the void, the lack of land in sight, the feeling of being out in a massive body of water, which is psychologically overwhelming. Arrigo’s drone footage encapsulates the swimmer’s vulnerability. Inevitably, you think of big fish, he acknowledges. But the expanse was not only scary; it also captured Agius’s deep connection with the sea.
Saving his skin
Skin exposure to the elements and its chafing and breaking due to repeated movements meant a Sudocrem barrier had to be continuously slathered onto the swimmer’s body. Once the whiteness started fading, Agius would apply the cream, extended to him in a container at the end of a rod – he never touched the boat during the totally unassisted swim – to protect crucial areas, such as his neck, shoulders, underarms and thighs that would get sore from rubbing.
