Career
He is one of the greatest marathon swimmers of all time and an honor swimmer in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame. So far, he has swum over 60,000 km in pools, rivers, lakes, seas and oceans. 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 on 8 September 2012. English Channel Swims
2006 – 7 h 21 mins
2007 – 6 h 57 mins (WR)
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 Manitoba of the Year for his victorious marathon swims throughout the year.