After swimming non-stop for more than 52 hours, he completed the 125.6km distance between the Italian island of Linosa and Gozo. The exhausted anti-pollution activist swam into Xlendi Bay tonight amid a cacophony of boat horns wild cheering and applause by supporters, friends and onlookers.

The 35-year-old former Olympian beat the previous world record for the longest continuous, unassisted, current-neutral swim along a single-segment natural route in an ocean, sea or bay, which was previously set at 124.4km.