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After conquering the Oceans Seven, the Bulgarian swimmer has a new goal

Petar Stoychev nears world record with only 1 of 7 ocean straits left to swim

Stoychev crossed Tsugaru Strait in 9 hours despite tsunami warning

Photo: Facebook/Petar Stoychev

Hours before Petar Stoychev arrived in Japan for the final swimming marathon across the Tsugaru Strait of the Seven Oceans series, a 7.1 magnitude earthquake and typhoon struck

A tsunami was also expected. "Japan was a very surprising trip. The distance there should have been 20 km, but because of the strong currents we started from a fishing village 10 km away. The first half of the distance took us 3 hours and 10-15 minutes, but the second half took us twice as long," Stoychev told bTV.

In the sea, Stoychev swims in a simple textile swimsuit that does not protect him from the cold water. A small red light is attached to his swimsuit to make him visible in the dark. He also rubs his body with special ointments to prevent his skin from chafing in the salty water.

Petar Stoychev has conquered the Oceans Seven, but now he is going for a new record.

Next week, Stoychev will travel to England to swim the Channel for the third time. If he does, he'll become the first person in the world to swim all seven of the Oceans Seven marathons in less than half a year. He last swam La Manche in 2007, when he also set a world record.



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