Neil Agius (born June 6, 1986) is a Maltese swimmer, former Olympian and world-record holder who specialises in long-distance freestyle events. He 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. 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. In August 2021, the renowned Maltese sportsman was honoured with the creation of a 266 kg bronze statue in his likeness, by artist Austin Camilleri, ensuring his legacy lives on. Agius qualified for the men's 400 m freestyle at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, by receiving a Universality place from

FINA FINA (french: Fédération internationale de natation, en, International Swimming Federation, link=yes) (to be renamed as World Aquatics by ) is the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administer ...

. He broke a Maltese record and posted his entry time of 4:21.24 from the Easter International Swim Meet in

Msida Msida ( mt, L-Imsida, it, Misida) is a harbour town in the Central Region of Malta with a population of 7, 623 (2021). Location The town is located just west of Valletta on the northeast coast of Malta. The neighbouring towns of Msida are ...

. 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. 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.

References

External links

* 1986 births Living people Olympic swimmers of Malta Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Maltese male freestyle swimmers {{Malta-swimming-bio-stub