WATCH: Three Maltese Men To Embark On Record-Breaking, Non-Stop Swim Around Entire Island For Environmental Cause
It is estimated that by the year 2050 there will be way more plastic in our oceans than actual fish. Wanting to raise more awareness on just how awful that would be, three self-assessed “insane” swimmers will be swimming around the entire island, non-stop. The Round Malta Swim, as expected, will actually be a record-breaking feat once completed.
Neil Agius, Gilbert Bartolo and Richard Zerafa are taking up the massive challenge later this month, in what’s promising to be a tough 70 kilometre swim.
Starting from Marfa beach in Mellieħa, the impressive swim is predicted to take around 24 hours to complete. “It is currently envisaged that the swim takes place on one of the days during the last week of July, depending on the weather conditions,” organisers informed followers.
As expected, the three Maltese man have been training hard for the past couple of months
The swim will start at around 6pm, and will see the three swimmers taking on the island in a clockwise direction. Agius, Bartolo and Zerafa will also swim throughout the night, only stopping briefly every 30 minutes to sip water and eat small portions of food. Of course, a great of logistics is going into organising the event, including medical boats and transport of helpers and swimming buddies.
The initiative, which is aimed at creating awareness about the amount of plastic waste we generate and how we can reduce it, will also be promoting a healthy lifestyle through physical activity for all ages.
The trio of Maltese swimmers are also hoping to promote sustainable tourism for the Maltese islands and economy by reducing the generation of plastic waste in the tourism industry.
Seeing as Malta’s waters (much like most of the world’s) are heavily polluted, and we are completely surrounded by the sea, we should try our best to keep them clean, both for ourselves and future generations. And this is exactly what these three men hope to push.
“We believe action can have a long-lastic impact,” the swimmers told Lovin Malta. “Rather than collecting money, we are asking you to take small steps to make a change together.”
To show your support for this movement, you can participate in the #WaveOfChange challenge, which is really three simple steps:
1. Pick up three pieces of plastic waste
2. Take a photo of the items you collected
3. Share it on Facebook (or Instagram) using #WaveOfChange
Everyone around the world is welcome to participate in this challenge, be it on the beach or on the street, and some Maltese people have already started getting engaged with this initiative.
Picking trash will have a great impact on our planet’s future, and on Swim Day, rather than sending out good luck messages to the swimmers, people are being encouraged to instead share their own images. Because if we stand together, we really can make a wave of change!
The Clean Seas Campaign will be teaming up with several NGOs, schools and the MTA. Zanzi Homes and Quicklets, who are the main sponsors of this endeavour, have in fact also been helping out by posting their own #WaveOfChange photos.
Along with Żibel and the FAA, the Environmental and Resource Authority and Wasteserv who will also be participating in this campaign.
Tag someone who should take up the #WaveOfChange challenge!
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