Neil Agius’ Marathon Swim Story

A swimmer since childhood and Maltese representative in the Athens Olympics, Neil Agius always talked about swimming around Malta. Eventually his girlfriend got tired of him talking about it told him to either do it or quit bringing it up.

His first epic marathon swim, Neil describes the feeling of completing the 70km circumnavigation of his home island as “intense”. Right away he wanted more.

Just two short years later, Neil successfully completed a 102 km swim from Sicily to Malta, all the while creating a Wave of Change for a cause we can all get behind, cleaner seas. 

In his own words: Neil Agius, 32, has been swimming competitively for the past 22 years. He took it so seriously that he found himself representing Malta on the Olympic team in Athens 2004. Neil currently holds the record for the Malta-Gozo-Malta swim. That’s only the official record, recorded. His humble persona has kept him out of the spotlight for other potential records.

His career started from the age of 3, when he fell in a pool, nearly drowned and was sent off to swimming lessons the following day. Neil went on to co-found Swimming Workshop over ten years ago – a swimming school that teaches both children and adults, whatever abilities, to swim and regularly coaches athletes to compete internationally.

The Sicily – Malta 100 Km swim has been the peak of his personal swimming ambition for the past 6 years, and he’s thrilled to see it become a reality. This has out him in the top 6 longest swims of all time in his category.

Neil has also founded Wave of Change which has enhanced this ambition not only to reach new goals but to help the environment we all live and swim in today. Doing so by raising awareness on the damage being done by plastics and micro-plastics.

Neil has also inspired the Maltese people to make changes in their life, Not only towards the environment but also towards themselves and people around them.

Find out more about Wave of Change: https://waveofchangemalta.com/
Watch The Long Swim Home: https://youtu.be/whBpg8mX1_g