Neil Agius - Sicily to Malta
evmo
SydneyAdmin
In what is likely to be one of the more significant swims of the year, Neil Agius will attempt a swim from Sicily to Malta, starting in a couple of hours (0500 Central European Time). Neil represented Malta in the 2004 Olympics (400 Free). The shortest distance across this channel is 85.5 km, but Neil's intended route is a bit longer, ~99km. He has declared MSF Rules and the intention to submit to MSF Documented Swims.
Follow his GPS track on https://track.rs/neilagius, and his FB page Wave of Change Malta for other updates.
Go Neil!
Comments
As far as I can tell, if successful, it will be the first unassisted swim of this channel. Nicky Farrugia swam the route in a shark cage in 1985.
Report via Associated Press:
EDIT: This AP report is apparently incorrect in stating that Farrugia swam in a shark cage. See comment below.
That's speed is unimaginable for me!
Very enthusiast to follow this swim. I was born in Reggio Calabria (you can see it in the map ). I know that region very well and swam the Messina strait in 2018 and maybe again this year if they give me the opportunity. looks like he is cruising at 5km/h... I guess he has a little favorable current now
but knowing he was Olympian athlete I am not surprised by the speed... . .... Go Neil !!!
Is he still swimming in the marathon swimming national team? He is who I consider a world-class marathon swimmer.
5km an hour is good but elite now is around the 53min mark
He's swimming 100 km, not 5 km or 25 km only!
I read the article check the currents...I hold 4km an hour but at times can hold 5km an hour and I am certainly not holding 1.12
Ask yourself what the distance the English Channel Swimmer Record holder held. you will probably think that is impossible and yes realise Nicky swam 86km to be precise
You seem quite intelligent so realise time in marathon swimming is not real
Therefore we need to do races to find out who's the best marathon swimmer in the world.
Here's a conundrum for you, Michael: Who is the "best" pool swimmer? The world record holder in the 50 Free, or the world record holder in the 1500? Or is it the 400IM, because it tests all the strokes?
In marathon swimming, why do you feel speed is more relevant than endurance?
If speed is the only real measure of a marathon swimmer, then which distance provides the "truest" measure of speed? 10km? Consider that before FINA settled on the 10K (so the Olympic race would be even moderately watchable), many pro marathon swimmers considered 25km to be the real, truest marathon swim distance.
If 10km is the One True Distance, which specific 10km race provides the One True Test for "best marathon swimmer in the world"? The Olympics? Consider that the FINA World Champs are sometimes more competitive than the Olympic race. What to do?!?!
What if we decide arbitrarily (because distances are arbitrary) to set our criterion "best marathon swimmer in the world" distance at 100 miles. This would make the decision much easier, as there is only one person!
Who is the "best" overall swimmer? The best pool swimmer or the best open water swimmer? Or the best surf-lifesaving swimmer?
Or the most drown-proof swimmer? What if a person successfully swam the Niagara whirlpool rapids that killed Matthew Webb, and came out alive? Would not this person have a fairly good claim to be the best swimmer?
Tracking points are less frequent. Only two dots in the last 6h...do we know why?
It would appear their SPOT tracker isn't working.
I noticed both his escort boats are on AIS, so I switched the https://track.rs/neilagius page over to the AIS feed, and downloaded the historical data to fill in the missing last few hours.
Oh no, "favourable currents"? Let's not go there again.....
There is a world ranking list by FINA. The following is for 2018 races:
http://www.fina.org/content/ranking-marathon-swim-world-series-2018
I consider the top people in the list THE top marathon swimmers in the world. In 2018 the top man was Ferry Weertman and the top woman was Ana Marcela Cunha.
It's nice to see a little red dot moving on the open seas. This has been a really strange year.
Only 1-2 Km to the finish line. That was really a nice swim.. Plenty of videos on fb where you can admire a beautiful long stroke from Neil in a calm and blue sea.. Enjoyed following it.
He's such a hero swimming the long way home. He's so beautiful that I really want to emulate him. That looks like a heaven! but that can only be a dream for me forever as I can probably never swim as good as an Olympian.....
Absolutely misunderstood Evan's entire point.
We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams
Most of us can't, Michael. I'm tempted to quote Desiderata to you.....greater and lesser etc. I wonder if you'll ever be content to be the best you can be. Surely that's what we should all aspire to be.
A quick update to correct the record. Nicky Farrugia's family provided this excerpt from the observer log, which indicates that while a shark cage was meant to be used, there was a problem deploying it at the start, and Nicky apparently completed the swim unassisted. The Associated Press report was incorrect.
I am working with Nicky and his family to obtain the full log, photos, and better contemporary news reports, to get this swim recognized alongside Neil's swim and added to the MSF database.
This was an amazing swim!
I usually read with envy about other amazing swims you people achieve in the US, in cold seas, or other remote (for me) areas, but then I sea see that here, in the Mediterranean, we can have our fair share of them too!
dieciseisgrados.com/