Bulgarian swimmer Petar Stoychev crossed the straits of Dover in less than seven hours on Friday, becoming the fastest man to swim across the English 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.

He became the first man to swim the 40 kilometres separating England from France 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.

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.