14 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 28 JUNE 2020
OPINION
PHOTO BY KURT ARRIGO
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Swimmer Neil Agius made landfall
in St Julian's on Friday morning
after a record-breaking 28-hour
swim between Sicily and Malta. The
Olympian and activist against sea
pollution covered the 104km stretch
in a non-stop swim, reaching Malta
seven hours ahead of the expected
time. Agius was greeted by a crowd
of cheering supporters, family and
friends.
He is only the second swimmer to
have completed the channel crossing
after Nicky Farrugia's feat in 1985. This
open sea challenge is the sixth longest
open seawater swim ever recorded
worldwide in the current neutral
category in the Marathon Swimming
Federation.
Agius had previously done the first
ever, non-stop swim around the
Maltese islands. The swim was part of
Agius's Wave of Change movement
that highlights the problem of plastic
pollution in our seas. The aim of Wave
of Change is to raise awareness and
educate people, especially children,
about the problem of sea plastic
pollution.
The swim started at 5:15am on 25 June,
in Punta di Braccetto, Ragusa, in the
southern coast of Sicily, and ended this
morning at 9:24am. He reached the St
Julian's waterpolo pitch, which is his
hometown swimming club.
