Maltese endurance swimmer Neil Agius will be attempting to break yet another world record, this time for the Longest Open Water Swim. One of the aims of the swim is to support the message behind ‘Wave of Change Malta’, which seeks to reduce plastic waste in our seas whilst encouraging physical activity.
The original plan was to swim 153 km from Malta to Tunisia yet due to the bad weather, the route has changed from Linosa (a Small Mediterranean island near Africa) to Malta for a total 130 km. This will see him swim for 50-55 hours. The ‘longest continuous, unassisted, current neutral swim along a single-segment natural route in an ocean, sea, or bay’ or in simple terms the ‘Longest Open Water Swim’, was achieved in 124.4km over 41 hours 22 minutes in 2014 by Chloe McCardel.
This swim follows a previous world record by Agius who swam an epic 95 km between Sicily and Malta. The record-breaking swim saw Neil swim for 28 hours, seven minutes and 27 seconds continuously, through the day and night.
Neil Agius and his team will be wearing the latest collection from NIKE Swim and Helly Hansen, in accordance with their requirements.
As a form of training before the big challenge which will take place within the next two weeks, Neil and his team, completed three swims round Gozo. Each lap, 37 km in distance, was completed in just under 12 hours and Neil could be seen collecting plastic along the way and handing it over to his crew.
“We are thrilled to sponsor such a great cause – one that does not only support our environment and the seas we love so dearly, but that also promotes physical activity. We look forward to supporting Neil and his team with the best gear from our leading brands NIKE and Helly Hansen” said Hudson’s Chairman and Founder of Hudson Foundation Alfie Borg. The Hudson Foundation seeks to ‘give a voice to the voiceless’ by supporting initiatives related to Mother Earth, children’s wellbeing and dogs.
Neil Agius is the co-founder of ‘Wave of Change’ and seeks to inspire young people to take action in their everyday life to reduce plastic waste. In its most recent campaign, ‘Wave of Change’ has been harnessing the power of social media and encouraging young people to pick up six pieces of rubbish while doing physical activity. The target is to collect 1 million plastic items before they reach Maltese seas. For more info visit: https://waveofchangemalta.com.
