Tsanko Tsankov is back on home soil in Burgas after his recent participation in the Gdynia Winter Swimming Cup in Poland. The Bulgarian swimmer won three gold medals in the 1,000m, 200m and 450m freestyle events in the Baltic Sea.

In an interview with public broadcaster BNT, Tsanko Tsankov said that it was his first time swimming in the longest discipline of this sport (1000m), with the water temperature at 2.6 degrees, which was very difficult for him. In his words, winter swimming is a sport that is attracting more and more new competitors with increasingly impressive achievements.

In the summer, Tsankov hopes to take part in the seven toughest swimming marathons in the world and swim across the Molokai Channel. By the end of the year, he plans to attempt to break the world record for 24-hour swimming in a 25m pool in Burgas.

• Tsanko Tsankov swam the longest marathon of the Ocean's Seven circuit