It is extremely rare that a highly placed government official, especially a Minister of Sport, is on a feeding station helping hydrate a professional marathon swimmer.

But the venerable Petar Stoychev has lived an extraordinarily unusual life.

This weekend, Stoychev found himself in Rosario, Argentina where he once competed as an athlete. But this time, he was serving as the coach of fellow countryman Tsvetan Yordanov in the Maratón Acuática Internactional Ciudad de Rosario.

Photo of Stoychev holding a feeding stick courtesy of Germán Vaché.

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