{"id":437457,"date":"2020-06-26T10:06:39","date_gmt":"2020-06-26T17:06:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=437457"},"modified":"2020-06-26T10:06:39","modified_gmt":"2020-06-26T17:06:39","slug":"olympian-activist-neil-agius-completes-sicily-malta-swim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/olympian-activist-neil-agius-completes-sicily-malta-swim\/","title":{"rendered":"Olympian, Activist Neil Agius Completes Sicily-Malta Swim"},"content":{"rendered":"

Malta Olympian Neil Agius<\/strong> has completed a swim from Sicily to Malta in a record-setting time this week.<\/p>\n

Agius departed from Punta Braccetto in Ragusa, Sicily in in the early morning hours of Thursday. He arrived in Balluta Bay in St. Julian\u2019s at 9:21 am on Friday, a time of 28 hours, seven minutes and 27 seconds.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s much faster than Agius\u2019s estimated time to cover the 95 kilometers, which he estimated at around 35 hours. Crowds awaited his arrival<\/a> at St. Julian\u2019s Water Polo and Aquatic Club.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was so much fun. … I was laughing, teasing the crew … and crying too,\u201d he said. \u201cThe toughest part was at around 3 a.m. because I got so cold.\u201d<\/p>\n

Agius, 34, competed at the 2004 Olympics in the 400 freestyle<\/a>. He held national records in the 400, 800 and 1,500 free. Now a swimming coach, Agius made the trip as part of the Wave of Change movement<\/a>, which aims to raise awareness about marine pollution and threats to marine habitats. (The journey of the swim is documented at Wave of Change’s Instagram account<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

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Caption this amazing sunset! Check this space for more updates ? ? @kurtarrigo<\/a><\/p>\n

A post shared by WaveOfChange Malta<\/a> (@waveofchangemalta) on