| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Neil Agius |
| National team |  Malta |
| Born | 6 June 1986 |
| Height | 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in) |
| Weight | 65 kg (143 lb) |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Swimming |
| Strokes | Freestyle |
| Coach | Dave Haller [1] |
Neil Agius (born 6 June 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 30 June 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] In September 2024, Agius broke the world record for 140km non-stop swim. [9]
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