Watch: ‘I Know Exactly What It Is’ – Neil Agius Reveals The Specific Number He Believes Is His Swimming Limit
Neil Agius has always been a source of inspiration for many Maltese athletes, politicians and people alike… but this month, he solidified and amplified all of that by not only breaking his insane 125.7-kilometre swim record set three years ago, but setting a new world record of 142.3 kilometres in the process.
Captivating the nation (and beyond) for three consecutive days of superhuman physicality, Neil’s Big Swim saw him push beyond what many thought was possible… but for the 38-year-old former Olympian, his limit hasn’t been reached yet. In fact, it’s still a couple dozen kilometres away.
Lovin Malta sat down with Neil to discuss not only his latest world record-breaking swim, but also the years leading up to it, and what might be waiting for him ahead. And it was during this interview that he actually revealed what he thinks his absolute limit is.
“It’s not even throwing [a number], I know exactly what it is,” Neil smiled, as he teased whether he should announce it or not. “It’s exactly 187 [kilometres]”.
“Many years of meditation and discussions with myself and how I feel during these swims,” he continued, explaining how he got to such a precise number. “Each time I learn more, and with the new breathing techniques that I use while I’m swimming, with the new approach, my mindset and everything. That number just slowly creeps up every time.”
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“But it’s not about wanting to do that because it’s cool to do and what the number is about,” Neil went to clarify. “It’s how I feel. It goes up by one kilometre, two kilometres at a time, or it even goes down sometimes. But after the swim, that is the number I feel I can do.”
“People can think it’s crazy, it’s fine for them not to agree with me, especially after how they saw me,” he continued. “But I know how I was feeling, and I know what my potential is. Whether I’ll have the chance to do it, I don’t know yet. But I’ve always said I don’t think I’ll be able to live with myself not doing something if I can do it, in 20 years’ time, saying I could’ve swam these 160 kilometres, but I didn’t. That will be hard to live with, but I do understand what we have achieved this year during this swim, it was absolutely phenomenal.”
In the new Lovin Malta interview which runs just under 45 minutes, Neil opens up about everything from his teenage years representing Malta at the Olympics, to some of the biggest (and coldest) challenges he’s had to face during his swims.
And yes, he does open up further about his hallucinations, his unconventional spiritual beliefs and what lies ahead for him and his life partner Lara.
Watch the full interview here:
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