Petar Stoychev Wins His 11th Straight Traversée Again
In one of the most exciting come-from-behind races in recent memory, Petar Stoychev fell behind over 2K at the halfway mark in the Traversée Internationale du Lac Memphrémagog in Magog, Canada this morning. But with less than 250 meters to go, he finally caught frontrunner Ian Van der Hulst of the Netherlands to win his unprecendented 11th straight Traversée.Second-place Ian had everything to be proud of.
The revitalized Ian fought off the world’s fastest ultra-marathon swimmers for over 7 hours and 25 minutes until he was overtaken by the most successful professional marathon swimmer in history. Trent Grimsey of Australia was third, Simon Tobin of Canada was fourth and Xavier Desharnais of Canada was fifth.
“I was overweight and not in shape a few years ago, just working in an office,” explained 27-year-old Ian. “I decided to get fit and started swimming again. I lost a lot of weight and am now doing the FINA Grand Prix circuit.”
But the story of the day was the King of the Lac, Petar Stoychev who was ecstatic after the race, jumping up and down to the cheers of the appreciative crowd. After winning his 11th straight Traversée internationale du lac St-Jean last week, Petar demonstrated his dominance again with his 11th straight Traversée Internationale du Lac Memphrémagog.
Photo of Petar Stoychev winning at Traversée Internationale du Lac St-Jean by Dr. Jim Miller.
Copyright © 2011 by Open Water Source
Southern California native, born 1962, is the creator of the WOWSA Awards, Oceans Seven, Openwaterpedia, Citrus Corps, World Open Water Swimming Association, Daily News of Open Water Swimming, Global Open Water Swimming Conference. He is Chief Executive Officer of KAATSU Global and KAATSU Research Institute. Inductee in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Swimmer, Class of 2001) and Ice Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Contributor - Media, Class of 2019), recipient of the International Swimming Hall of Fame's Poseidon Award (2016), International Swimming Hall of Fame's Irving Davids-Captain Roger Wheeler Memorial Award (2010), USA Swimming's Glen S. Hummer Award (2007, 2010) and Harvard University's John B. Imrie Award (1984). Served on the FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee and as Technical Delegate with the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games, and 9-time USA Swimming coaching staff. Note: WOWSA only recommends products or services used or recommended by the community. WOWSA does not receive compensation for links or products mentioned on this site or in blog posts. If it does, it will be indicated clearly on that specific post. See WOWSA's privacy policy for more information.
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