The Bulgarian swimmer Tsanko Tsankov became the first Bulgarian to swim the distance of 36 kilometers from Catalina Island to Los Angeles in the Pacific Ocean at night. The race, which was held under the auspices of the World Open Water Swimming Association (WOWSA), started at 23.38 local time and took place entirely at night.

The Bulgarian swimmer managed to cover the distance of the Catalina Strait in a time of 10 hours, 33 minutes, and 29 seconds. Tsankov had to cope with huge waves, a water temperature of around 18 degrees, and in the last 2000 meters the temperature reached 15 degrees. Already on the second hour, he got hypothermia and several crises, but he didn’t give up and continued without stopping until the finish.

The Catalina Channel swim is part of the seven races of the Ocean Seven circuit – the toughest open water swims officially certified by the World Open Water Swimming Association (WOWSA). With his success, Tsanko Tsankov became the first Bulgarian swimmer to cross both the distance from Africa to Europe by swimming and that of the Catalina Strait.

Tsanko Tsankov’s participation took place with the support of the Sport in Bulgaria Foundation, which provided financial support to the swimmer to be able to embark on this challenge. This partnership is only part of the organization’s planned activities to develop the sport at the national level.