Petar Stoychev ( bg, Петър Стойчев; born 24 October 1976 in

Momchilgrad Momchilgrad ( bg, Момчилград , , Turkish: Mestanlı); is a town in the very south of Bulgaria, part of Kardzhali Province in the southern part of the Eastern Rhodopes. According to the 2011 census, Momchilgrad is the largest Bulgarian s ...

) is a

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

n swimmer who is one of the most successful long distance

marathon swimmer Marathon swimming is a class of open water swimming defined by long distances (at least ) and traditional rules based in English Channel swimming. Unlike marathon foot-races which have a specifically defined distance, ''marathon swims'' vary in ...

s in history. He is one of the greatest marathon swimmers of all time and an honor swimmer in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame. Stoychev has 11 consecutive titles of a major international open water marathon swimming

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 ...

series since 2001 (World Cup winner 2001–2006, Grand Prix winner 2007–2011) with more than 60 wins in individual swimming marathons. So far, he has swum over 60,000 km in pools, rivers, lakes, seas and oceans. Petar Stoychev has won 11 consecutive victories at the Traversée Internationale du Lac Memphrémagog in Magog, Canada (34 km) and at Lac Saint-Jean in Roberval, Canada (32 km). Also, he has won the Ohrid Lake, Macedonia swimming marathon 11 consecutive times (30 km). His swimming achievements include swimming around the Manhattan Island in 2010 and winning the extreme Cadiz Freedom Swim in 2011. In addition to his numerous achievements in marathon swimming, he has participated in four Olympics –

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 ( Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...

in Sydney, 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, where he was the

flag bearer A standard-bearer, also known as a flag-bearer is a person (soldier or civilian) who bears an emblem known as a standard or military colours, i.e. either a type of flag or an inflexible but mobile image, which is used (and often honoured) as a f ...

for the Bulgarian Olympic team, and finished 6th in 10km at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Petar Stoychev was formerly the holder of the world record for crossing the English Channel (24 August 2007) and the first swimmer to make the crossing in less than 7 hours (6:57:50). The previous record from 2005 (7:03:50) belonged to Christoph Wandratch (Germany). His record was broken by Australian swimmer

Trent Grimsey Trent Grimsey (born 4 May 1988) is an Australian retired long distance swimmer who set a new record time for crossing the English Channel in 2012. He won the silver medal in the 25 kilometre open water at the 2009 World Aquatics Championships ...

on 8 September 2012. ''English Channel Swims'' *2006 – 7 h 21 mins *2007 – 6 h 57 mins (WR) Petar Stoychev won the first place at

2011 World Aquatics Championships The 14th FINA World Championships () were held on 16–31 July 2011 in Shanghai, China at the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center. The 2011 World Championships featured five aquatics disciplines: swimming, water polo, diving, open water, and synch ...

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

, China during the 25 km event, thus becoming the first Bulgarian swimmer with a World Championship title. He was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in September 2009. Petar Stoychev was selected in a global online poll as the 2009 World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year for his victorious marathon swims throughout the year. Petar Stoychev is a member of the FINA Athletes' Commission.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stoychev, Petar 1976 births Bulgarian male swimmers Living people Male long-distance swimmers English Channel swimmers Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic swimmers of Bulgaria People from Momchilgrad World Aquatics Championships medalists in open water swimming Manhattan Island swimmers Sports ministers of Bulgaria