Petar Stoychev

Petar Stoychev was born on October 24, 1976 in Momchilgrad, Bulgaria. He started swimming at the age of 6. His first trainers in the town of Smolyan were Evelina Georgieva and Ognyan Georgiev .He started swimming at the age of 6. At the age of 16 Stoychev started taking part in European Junior Swimming competitions. In 1992 he became 4th at 400m freestyle and 5th at 1500m. The next year he got the second and the third place and broke the Bulgarian men`s records.

At the same time, in 1993, is his first participation in the Ochrid swimming marathon - Petar became second in only 19 seconds behind the winner. He qualified for the European Swimming Championships in Istanbul, but he was not included in the Bulgarian men’s team.

Petar won the Galata marathon in Varna, Bulgaria and he became second at the Balkan Junior Swimming Championship. At this point of his swimming career Petar decided to swim longer distances. As a result of this decision, Petar started to compete in the FINA Marathon Swimming World Cup races. He has competed in rivers, lakes, seas and even oceans.
His brother is Julian Stoychev – one of the best Bulgarian sportsmen in fencing. Petar’s great success is the result of the teamwork with his trainer Krassimir Tumanov of swimming club "Levski - Sofia". Petar has already participated in three Olympics - Sydney 2000, Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008, where he was flag bearer for the Bulgarian Olympic team. Petar has 9 consecutive wins of a major international open water FINA series since 2001 (World Cup winner 2001-2006, Grand Prix winner 2007-2009), and more than 50 wins in individual swimming marathons.
A 3-time Olimpian in both the pool and open water, Petar set a world record in the English Channel when he became the first person to break the magic 7- hour mark from England to France. Petar has also won the world professional marathon swimming title an unparalleled nine years in a row and a currently leading in the ranking for 2010. Petar has swum in dozens of countries on five countries in all types of conditions. Open water swimming has enabled him to travel the world and become the 2009 World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year.

April 2010
Petar Stoychev won again in 15 km Marathon Swimming Competition in Mexico, Santa Fe. His time was 3.19.52

English Channel Swimming

Time:6 hours 57 min. 50 sec.
Date:24 August 2007
Route:England to France
Started: Shakespeare Beach at 10:11:00am
Finished at Cap Griz Nez at 18:08:50
The fastest time out of 1500 solo swims
World record: Fastest Channel Swim

Petar, Bulgaria’s Olympic flag bearer at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, won his ninth consecutive FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix, an unprecedented string of professional marathon swimming dominance that is longer than the streaks held by the legendary pro stars like John Kinsella, Paul Asmuth and Shelley Taylor-Smith.

His reign over the longest and toughest marathon swimming circuit over the past nine years is incredible, especially when one considers how close the finishes are at contemporary marathon races. As the reigning English Channel record-holder, Petar also competed at several FINA 10KM Marathon Swimming World Cup races and was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame,Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA in September 2009. The only person to swim the English Channel under 7 hours, Petar won the 30K FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix in Ohrid Lake(Macedonia), the 32K Traversée Internationale du lac St-Jean (Canada), the 34K Traversée Internationale du Lac Memphrémagog (Canada), the 15K FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix in Sumidero Canyon (Mexico) and the 57K Maraton Acuatica Rio Coronda (Argentina) Grand Prix and was fourth in the FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix in Viedma (Argentina). For his continued demonstration of superior marathon swimming abilities in all types of competitions and conditions, Petar is a worthy recipient of the 2009 World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year.

Santa Fe Coronda ,2010