Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

Petar Stoychev becomes the first Bulgarian to swim the Cook Strait in New Zealand

Photo: Petar Stoychev's private archive

Bulgaria's Petar Stoychev, recognized as the world's most successful swimmer in the marathon, recorded yet another serious achievement by becoming the first Bulgarian to swim across the Cook Strait, connecting the South and North Islands of New Zealand

Stoychev succeeded despite extremely difficult conditions - frigid water of 14 degrees Celcius, very strong wind, big waves and strong current. 

The Cook Strait is generally considered one of the most dangerous straits in the world. The distance between the two islands is about 26 kilometers in a straight line, and Stoychev swam over 20.7 nautical miles (over 38 kilometers) in the harsh conditions from the South to the North Island.

Stoychev crossed the Cook Strait in 6.51 hours - the best time for the 2023/2024 season.





Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Adriana Boyadzhieva brought the first gold medal for Bulgaria from the European Cadet. Junior Karate Championships in the Polish city of Bielsko-Biala

Bulgaria's Adriana Boyadzhieva wins gold medal at European Karate Championship

Adriana Boyadzhieva brought Bulgaria's first gold medal at the European Karate Championship in the Polish city of Bielsko-Biala . In the final of the 54 kg category kumite Adriana recorded a new convincing success - over Sofia Halievska from Ukraine..

published on 2/9/25 4:03 PM
Stanka Zlateva

Stanka Zlateva: Naturalization of athletes is becoming a business

The wrestlers from the "Stanka Zlateva" sports club in Sliven, Emine Osman and Nesrin Suleymanova, will turn their attention to applying to the Academy of the Ministry of Interior. This was announced by their personal trainer Stanka..

published on 2/6/25 10:16 AM
Iva Ereminova

Bulgarian athletes earn seven medals at a diving tournament in the Netherlands

Bulgarian divers won seven medals at the first international competition of the year on the calendar of the swimming federation, held in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. Tsvetomir Ereminov took first place in the men's platform competition with 35415..

published on 2/2/25 2:55 PM