Neil Agius In Excellent Spirits Despite ‘Very Tough Night’ As He Completes First Quarter Of Record-Breaking Swim
Ultra-endurance swimmer Neil Agius is in “excellent” spirits, despite a very tough night, having now completed roughly a quarter of his swim between Linosa and Malta.
Agius is attempting to break the world record for the longest open water swim by travelling the 124.4km distance between the two islands. He expects to complete the swim within 50 to 55 hours.
You can follow Neil’s historic swim here.
As of 9:45am, Agius had swum a total of 30km in 14.5 hours, meaning he will complete the crossing in 55 hours as expected if he maintains his current pace.
Agius covered the first 10km in under two hours, his team said, adding however that the night was then “very tough”.
“There is a strong north current working against Neil and the waves were constantly hitting him from the front and side. The weather remains variable. The pace was slow throughout the night and he had a sharp pain in his left ankle. This is the reality of an expedition that has never been completed before,” Agius’ team said.
However, things got “a little easier after sunrise” with his pace picking up once again.
“We all watch on holding our breaths to see how this unfolds. Please send your well wishes by taking on the #DoubletheWave”
In an update uploaded to the Wave of Change Facebook page, Agius’ team appealed to members of the public to pick up six pieces of plastic and to upload a video to social media doing six reps of their favourite exercise.
“Show your support, let’s give him an incredible update as to how close we’ve got to picking up 1 million pieces of plastic when he reaches our Maltese shores,” the team said.
Agius was originally planning to cross the Mediterranean from Tunisia to Sicily but had to change his plans at the last minute due to the bad weather.
The change in route however does not make the swim any easier or less of a challenge. “All the exact same restrictions apply. It is still set to be a 50 to 55-hour non-stop swim,” Agius said ahead of the race.
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