Petar Stoychev crossed the 35 km North Channel between Northern Ireland and Scotland in 9 hours 56 minutes today with feeder and handler Ivan Zlatinov and escort pilot Pádraig Mallon. The 47-year-old four-time Olympian and former English Channel record holder has now completed six of the seven Oceans Seven channels.

His next stop on his global tour is serving as a representative of World Aquatics during the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Then, it is onwards to the last Oceans Seven channel in northern Japan after a busy several months:

• July 2024: 9 hours 56 minutes across the North Channel
• June 2024: 8 hours 42 minutes across the Catalina Channel
• May 2024: 18 hours 53 minutes across the Molokai Channel
• April 2024: 3 hours 46 minutes across the Strait of Gibraltar
• March 2024: 6 hours 51 minutes across the Cook Strait
• August 2007: 6 hours 57 minutes across the English Channel

Stoychev’s time across the North Channel was among the fastest across the world-renowned cold-water crossing where today the water temperature ranged from 12.9°C to 13.4°C:

Fastest North Channel Solo Crossings

1. Jordan Leckey (Ireland) in 9 hours 9 minutes in 2021 at the age of 29
2. Andy Donaldson (Scotland) in 9 hours 13 minutes in 2022 at the age of 31
3. Mark Brown (Great Britain) in 9 hours 31 in 2021
4. Michelle Macy (USA) 9 hours 34 minutes in 2013 at the age of 36
5. Steve Proud (Great Britain) in 9 hours 39 minutes in 2021
6. Alison Streeter, MBE (Great Britain) 9 hours 53 minutes in 1988 at the age of 23
7. Colleen Mallon (Ireland) 9 hours 56 minutes in 2014 at the age of 28
8. Petar Stoychev (Bulgaria) 9 hours 56 minutes in 2024 at the age of 47
9. Keith Garry (Ireland) in 9 hours 57 minutes in 2016 at the age of 40
10. Caitlin O’Reilly (New Zealand) 9 hours 57 minutes at the age of 19
11. Alison Streeter, MBE (Great Britain) 10 hours 2 minutes in 1997 at the age of 32
12. Alison Streeter, MBE (Great Britain) 10 hours 4 minutes in 1989 at the age of 24
13. Fiona Cullinane (Australia) 10 hours 4 minutes in 2022 at the age of 20
14. Sabrina Wiedmer (Switzerland) 10 hours 13 minutes in 2014 at the age of 25

Data obtained from the Marathon Swimmers Federation LongSwims Database.

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