| 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 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]
Shrone Austin is a Seychellois swimmer, who specialized in freestyle and breaststroke events. She first competed in the women's 100 m breaststroke at the 2004 Summer Olympics, before turning her sights on the long-distance freestyle at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Apart from her Olympic career, Austin had collected a career total of six medals in two editions of the All-Africa Games.
Emanuele Nicolini is a Sammarinese swimmer, who specialized in freestyle events. He holds numerous national records in the 200 and 400 m freestyle, and had represented his nation San Marino in two editions of the Olympic Games.
Mahrez Mebarek is an Algerian former swimmer, who specialized in freestyle events. He is a multiple-time Algerian record holder in long-distance freestyle.
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Łukasz Drzewiński is a Polish former swimmer, who specialized in freestyle and butterfly events. Drzewinski won a silver medal in the 200 m butterfly at the 2002 European Junior Swimming Championships in Linz, Austria with a time of 2:00.21, edging out Ukraine's Serhiy Advena by 0.04 of a second. He is a member of the swimming team for AZS Warszawa, and is coached and trained by Roberta Białeckiego.
Adam Paul Faulkner is an English former competitive swimmer who represented Great Britain in the Olympic Games and competed for England in the Commonwealth Games. Faulkner specialised in long-distance freestyle events. He won a bronze medal, as a member of England swimming team, at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, with a final time of 7:22.56.
Giancarlo Zolezzi Seoane is a Chilean former swimmer, who specialized in long-distance freestyle events. He is a multiple-time Chilean swimming champion and record holder in the 200, 400, 800, and 1500 m freestyle.
Charnvudth Saengsri is a Thai former swimmer, who specialized in long-distance freestyle events. He is a two-time silver medalist in the 1500 m freestyle at the Southeast Asian Games.
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Aytekin Mindan is a Turkish former swimmer, who specialized in freestyle events. He held a Turkish record of 1:50.40 in the 200 m freestyle, until it was matched by Kemal Arda Gurdal in 2012. He studied at Istanbul Bilgi University.
Yves Platel is a Swiss former swimmer, who specialized in freestyle and individual medley events. He is a two-time Olympian, and currently holds four Swiss records in long-distance freestyle and the 400 m individual medley. Platel is a member of Genève Natation 1885 in Geneva, and is coached and trained by Dirk Reinecke.
Kim Bang-Hyun is a South Korean former swimmer who specialized in the individual medley but also competed in freestyle and butterfly events. He is a three-time Olympian, and a two-time bronze medalist in the freestyle relays at the Asian Games. Kim became the first ever South Korean swimmer to train in the United States, where he attended the University of Florida on a full athletic scholarship. While swimming for the Florida Gators under head coach Gregg Troy, Kim earned four All-American swimming honors in both the 200 and 400-meter individual medley events at the NCAA Championships. Kim also holds a total of eighteen South Korean records, set while competing for the Korean national team.
Vesna Stojanovska is a Macedonian former swimmer, who specialized in freestyle and butterfly events. She is a two-time Olympian, and holds multiple age-group records in 200 and 400 m freestyle, and in 50, 100, and 200 m butterfly. Regarded as one of Macedonia's top swimmers, Stojanovska has earned All-American honors and numerous Atlantic Coast Conference titles in her own discipline while studying in the United States.
Pilin Tachakittiranan is a Thai former swimmer, who specialized in freestyle and butterfly events. She is a two-time Olympian and a multiple-time age-group record holder in all freestyle distances. Regarded as Thailand's top female swimmer, she has won a total of five gold medals at the Southeast Asian Games.
Rebecca Jane Linton is a New Zealand former swimmer, who specialised in long-distance freestyle events. She held New Zealand records in the 400 and 800 m freestyle, until they were all broken by Lauren Boyle in 2012. Linton is also a member of Howick Pakuranga Swim Club in Auckland.
Ivanka Moralieva is a Bulgarian former swimmer, who specialized in long-distance freestyle events and open water marathon. Since 2001, she holds a Bulgarian record in the 1500 m freestyle from the World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan (16:55.53). She also won a bronze medal in the 25 km, as an open water swimmer, at the 2004 European Aquatics Championships in Madrid, Spain (4:41:21.2).
Ratapong "Nuk" Sirisanont is a Thai former swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke, but also competed in long-distance freestyle and individual medley. He is a four-time Olympian, a three-time Asian Games participant, and a seven-time SEA Games athlete (1991–2003). Regarded as Thailand's top swimmer, he has won a total of sixteen medals at the Southeast Asian Games since 1995, and six at the Asian Games, including two golds in the 200 and 400 m individual medley. At the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Sirisanont became the first Thai swimmer to reach the final twice. Sirisanont is also one of three Southeast Asian swimmers, along with Malaysia's Alex Lim and Philippines' Miguel Molina, to train for the California Golden Bears in the United States, under head coach Nort Thornton.
Chen Te-tung is a Taiwanese former swimmer, who specialized in freestyle events. Chen qualified for two swimming events, as a member of the Chinese Taipei team, at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. He posted FINA B-standard entry times of 1:53.29 and 4:02.24 from the National University Games in Taipei. On the first day of the Games, Chen placed fortieth in the 400 m freestyle. He pulled off a second-place effort in heat one by a 1.72-second margin behind Philippines' Miguel Mendoza with a time of 4:03.71. The following day, Chen delivered a forty-seventh-place finish in the 200 m freestyle. Swimming in heat three, he raced to a sixth seed by 0.24 of a second behind Cyprus' Alexandros Aresti in 1:54.14.
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