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Maltese swimmer From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Neil Agius (born June 6, 1986) is a Maltese swimmer, former Olympian and world-record holder who specializes in long-distance freestyle events.[2]
Neil held three Maltese records each in the 400, 800, and 1500 m freestyle until one of them was broken by Edward Caruana Dingli in 2011.[1]
On June 30, 2021, Agius might have established the new world record for the longest continuous unassisted open water swim - swimming 125.7 km from Linosa to Xlendi - to the mediterranean archipelago of Gozo, Malta. This is still under review by the Marathon Swimmers Federation.[3]
In August 2021, he was honoured with the creation of a 266 kg bronze statue in his likeness, by artist Austin Camilleri, ensuring his legacy lives on.[4]
Agius qualified for the men's 400 m freestyle at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, by receiving a Universality place from FINA.[1] He broke a Maltese record and posted his entry time of 4:21.24 from the Easter International Swim Meet in Msida.[5][6] As part of his preparations for the Games, Agius attended a 6-week training camp under the guidance of Dave Heller, who coached for the Cardiff Swimming Club.[1] On the first day of the Games, Agius placed forty-sixth from the morning's prelims. Swimming in heat one, he rounded out a field of seven swimmers to last place with a slowest time of 4:22.14, less than a tenth of a second (0.10) off his record.[7][8]
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