[WATCH] Neil Agius crosses Sicily-Malta channel in record 28 hours

Neil Agius crosses Sicily-Malta channel in record 28 hours

Swimmer Neil Agius made landfall in St Julians this 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.

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.

Agius was greeted by a crowd of cheering supporters, family and friends.