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The record for swimming the English Channel was smashed  by a Bulgarian swimmer on Friday.

Petar Stoychev crossed the straits of Dover in less than seven hours, becoming the fastest man ever to swim the Channel.

Stoychev's time was six hours, 57 minutes and 50 seconds , a full six minutes faster than the time of previous record holder Christof Wandratsch's time set in August 2005.

He became the first man make the crossing in under seven hours.

The Bulgarian has won the Open Water World Championships seven times and has long targeted the English Channel record, never succeeding until now.

Note: To become the official record holder, Stoychev's swim has to be validated by the Channel Swimming Association (CSA) or the Channel Swimming and Piloting Federation (CSPF), the two organisations that observe and verify the swimmers who attempt to cross the Channel.