site.btaSwimmer Petar Stoychev Becomes First Bulgarian to Swim All Oceans Seven Open Water Straits

Swimmer Petar Stoychev became the first Bulgarian and only the 31st in the world to swim the seven most difficult open water straits Oceans Seven. Stoychev completed the achievement by swimming the Tsugaru Strait in Japan.

"I managed to swim the last, seventh open water marathon of Oceans Seven! In rough conditions, between two typhoons in the area, I managed to swim the Tsugararu Strait. I started from Kodomari City at 4:18 am Japan time, reaching the shore of Hokkaido at 1:48 pm. I covered the distance in 9 hours 30 minutes and 20 seconds. In just over 3 hours I was halfway through the distance, then the headwinds became very strong. It was an extremely hard swim, but above the fatigue emerged happiness and pride that I became the first Bulgarian with Oceans Seven", wrote Peter Stoychev in a Facebook post.

Following are the seven straits swum by Petar Stoychev:

1. English Channel

2. Cook Strait

3. Strait of Gibraltar

4. Molokai Channel

5. Catalina Channel

6. North Channel

7. Tsugaru Strait

"I thank to all Bulgarians for the tremendous support which I felt during these tough open water swimming marathons, during a challenge that is considered the swimming equivalent of the Seven Summits, climbing the highest mountain peaks on seven continents. To feel this Bulgarian pride in everyone is a another peak! Thank you again!

The Oceans Seven challenge is complete!

However, the challenges in life are never-ending. That's why I set myself a new one, to swim the English Channel one more time, to set a world record for swimming the seven Oceans Seven marathons in the shortest period of time.

This achievement is currently held by Andy Donaldson. He became the first person in the world to swim all seven marathons within one year, from August 7, 2022, to July 27, 2023. In the five months from mid-March 2024 to mid-August 2024, I managed to swim six of my seven Ocean Seven marathons. That's why I decided to swim the English Channel again, to try to improve the record and become the first person in the world to achieve Oceans Seven in half a year!" Peter Stoychev also wrote.