Six Million And Counting! The Neil Agius Swim That Captured The Nation, In Numbers
News never sleeps, and Malta is definitely a very eventful island. But for three days, the entire nation only had one name on its lips: Neil Agius.
The former Olympian is no stranger to incredible feats which capture the hearts and minds of thousands. In 2020, he swam from Sicily to Malta. One year later, he entered the world record books with a 125.7-kilometre swim from Linosa to Xlendi. Last summer, he was forced to abandon a mind-boggling swim from Mallorca to Ibiza after swimming into four-hour-long swarm of jellyfish and being stung over 60 times.
But last weekend, Neil went back into the sea, and for three days straight, he swam. And by the time he returned back to land, the whole nation was watching.
Lovin Malta has always followed Neil and his incredible journey very closely, so we absolutely had to be there this time round.
And whether it was his rigorous preparation, his dramatic departure from Mellieħa on Saturday morning, his casual smile as he broke the 24-hour mark between Malta and Gozo, his defiance of the consecutive cold, dark, stormy nights he had to endure, or the incredible moment he arrived in Għar Lapsi on Monday night after over 140 kilometres of swimming, Lovin Malta was there every step of the way.
But we weren’t the only ones following Neil Agius, with his incredible swim and new world record amassing a total six million views across Lovin Malta’s social media.
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Of course, Neil cannot do all of this alone.
He has a massive team behind him, whether that’s people in offices taking care of logistics or entire teams on ribs offering him support, guidance and food. And without them, all of this would not be possible.
But at the end of the long swim around the islands, beyond all these millions of views, and tens of thousands of likes, and endless conversations had from homes to restaurants to everywhere in between, there was only one name on everyone’s lips, and that was the one, the only, Neil Agius.
So congratulations and thank you Neil for making Malta dream again, and for inspiring a whole nation with your incredible feat.
And as for everyone who tuned in throughout this once-in-a-lifetime event, thanks so much for following… and stay tuned, because Neil is not quite done yet.
Cover Image Photo by Lindsey Bahia
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