The Maltese Olympian turned ultra-swimmer has spent days swimming in open water, battling exhaustion, hallucinations, and the relentless pull of his limits. But for Agius, the true challenge is not just physical – it is mental. Through his record-breaking swims and environmental activism, he is not only testing himself, but also inspiring a movement that challenges people to embrace discomfort, push beyond perceived boundaries, and protect the waters that connect us all.
But what is it like to be in a multi-day swim?
‘When I swim for 60 hours straight, it’s like a roller coaster inside my head. The key is to maintain a high level of focus and stay present for as long as possible. The moment I lose that focus, my efficiency drops. Unlike walking or running, swimming requires overcoming drag – we aren’t naturally built for it. Every movement – tucking my chin, engaging my core, using my hips for momentum – affects the longevity of the swim,’ Agius says.
Initially, staying consistent is easier, but after two days without sleep, he starts forgetting those crucial details. There are moments of pure flow when everything feels smooth, and then there are times when exhaustion sets in, and Agius starts questioning his life choices.
Midnight currents
Swimming through the night is wildly surreal. ‘It’s pitch black except for the red navigation lights on the boat beside me. Sometimes, I glimpse a shadow below me and wonder – was that real? Am I imagining things? It’s a constant balance, not a battle, with the elements. The sea dictates the movement, and I must dance with it rather than fight against it. When the waves get rough, I move with them, weaving into their rhythm rather than resisting,’ Agius says.
In such a delicate situation, breathing is everything. Agius always swims freestyle and takes a breath on every second stroke – this feels most efficient. Keeping a steady supply of oxygen is crucial for his lungs and muscles to sustain swimming for many hours. He never switches strokes or swims backstroke. He engages in a continuous rhythm of freestyle because that has proven to be the most efficient way to keep moving forward.
That is the rhythm that takes Agius into a near-meditative state. ‘The repetitive motion creates a kind of moving meditation. But even in that state, I have to stay very present because small details matter. It’s easy to slip into autopilot, but maintaining presence and focus is essential,’ Agius says.
But not even mindfulness and meditation can counter the effects of being awake for many hours. ‘Sleep deprivation, repetitive movement, and rhythmic breathing create the perfect conditions for hallucinations. The key is not to engage with them. If you focus on them, they grow, becoming more vivid, and before you know it, you’re completely immersed in them, losing all sense of presence and efficiency,’ Agius says.
And, while hallucinations may sound fun, on a sixty-hour swim – in pitch darkness and cold water – this full-on 3D experience can get intense. ‘This one time, for example, I would turn to breathe and think my team was passing me something. I’d see them reaching over the boat, so I’d stop only to realise there was no one there,’ Agius says.
The hallucinations fascinate him, and once he is on land, not dancing with the elements anymore, he likes his retrospective introspection to assess what he saw. ‘During my 2021 swim, I hallucinated an underwater city, almost like Atlantis, with people holding hands and waving at me – some welcoming, others afraid. This time, I saw manta ray-like creatures gliding beneath me, then flipping their wings around themselves and walking together in groups,’ Agius says.
So what does the science say?
Recent academic research has begun to unpack the complex mental and physical demands of ultra-endurance open-water swimming. A case study published in Frontiers in Sports and Active Living highlighted the critical role of team closeness and emotional support in coping with stress and recovery during such extreme feats – underlining how collective psychology affects performance and resilience in swimmers like Agius (Lykesas et al., 2023).
Complementing this, a 2023 European Journal of Sport Science paper examined neurocognitive function and perceived exertion in long-duration events. The study suggests that extended physical efforts significantly impact mental acuity and decision-making – insights that mirror Agius’s own experiences with sleep deprivation, hallucinations, and the importance of mindfulness (Zinner et al., 2023).
Furthermore, nutritional considerations are gaining attention in the scientific literature. A recent review in Nutrients explored the dietary strategies needed to support ultra-endurance swimming – such as maintaining energy availability and mitigating muscle damage – key factors in sustaining performance in multi-day swims like Agius’s (Rojas-Valverde, 2023).
Purpose ripples
What is the biggest lesson from all his discipline and swims? ‘Our mindset towards challenges. In life, in sports, and in work, we train to avoid difficulty. People work hard to prevent moments where they feel overwhelmed. But for me, that moment when my body and mind are telling me to stop is precisely what I train for. I don’t avoid the “pain cave”. I seek it out to test everything I’ve learned in those hours of training, breathwork, and mental preparation to see if they work. Instead of dreading discomfort, I embrace it as the actual learning ground,’ Agius concludes.
And while he has nothing planned for the future, he loves what he is doing – so it would be difficult to say there will not be another swim coming up. Well, as the Stoics say: the obstacle is the way.
Learn more about Neil Agius and his insights on Instagram
The following abridged article by Christian Keszthelyi features in Issue 47: Disciplines of THINK Magazine, the official research magazine of the University of Malta. For more articles from the edition, pick up a copy on Campus or read here. (Republished courtesy of THINK).