The World Open Water Swimming Association (WOWSA) has banned Bulgarian swimmer Tsanko Tsankov from future world record ratification, claiming he falsified documents and claimed a false world record swim.
Tsankov swam a 100K in the Danube River to celebrate Unification Day on Sept. 6, and later claimed it to be a world record.
In attempting to prove his swim a record, Tsankov submitted GPS files to WOWSA, one of the several open water swimming associations for ratification. WOWSA has denied ratification to this swim.
“Mr. Tsankov submitted six GPS files as proof of his swim, and all of them were different,” the report stated. “The data in the last file was manually altered to change the speeds and times, proving that the data was tampered with…This was not a technical glitch or broken GPS. It was a complete GPS file in the wrong format. The giveaways were the timestamp and speeds. It had nothing to do with ‘Bulgarian Time’ as Mr. Niki Iliev says in (several) Bulgarian news sources. The data was 100% changed by a human, not due to any software or GPS error. WOWSA requested access to the original GPS data from Mr. Tsankov’s Garmin device. He did not provide this information, making it impossible to verify his swim properly.
“Immediately after his swim, he declared a record. It is against the code of conduct to declare a record unless the swim is ratified,” WOWSA wrote in its report. “The Bulgarian media in over dozens of articles says WOWSA ‘revoked’ his records. This is false. We only pointed out that his claims were not genuine ‘World Records.’ We cannot revoke ‘World Records’ that do not exist in the first place.”
The world record for the Danube swim is held by Bogdan Zurbagiu of Romania, who swam 115.8K in 28 hours, 46 minutes in August 2021, according to WOWSA.
WOWSA Advisory Board Ratification Committee’s Official Statement Regarding Tsanko Tsankov’s Affiliation with WOWSA:
“Tsanko Tsankov is currently preparing for a new 120 km swim in the Danube scheduled for September 19, 2024, just days after his previous attempt was denied ratification by WOWSA. Mr. Tsankov has not addressed the issue of manipulated GPS data that forced the committee to deny ratification. WOWSA stands unwavering in its commitment to integrity in open water swimming. The heart of open water swimming lies in honesty, and when that trust is broken, the sport is compromised.
We want to make it very clear the falsification of records is a violation of the principles that unite swimmers across the globe. We cannot recognize or ratify any swim where the truth has been manipulated. WOWSA holds that any swimmer found guilty of such actions will be permanently banned from future ratifications with WOWSA.
We have a responsibility to the sport, its athletes, and the countless swimmers who honor its values. Open water swimming deserves more than moments of triumph tainted by dishonesty. We honor the efforts of every athlete who competes with integrity, and it is to them—and to the future of our sport—that we make this clear decision.”
WOWSA’s report says it is worried about the integrity of the sport, especially in Bulgaria, especially after more false claims came to light, including Tsankov claiming he completed the Gibraltar swim as part of the Oceans Seven Challenge swims, but he completed it in a wetsuit, which is against the rules for the Oceans Seven Challenge.
“Our goal is to maintain fairness and integrity in open water swimming. We review each swim carefully to ensure its legitimate, accurate, and transparent. Mr. Tsankov and coach and PR agent Niki Iliev continue to make World Record claims isolating Bulgaria from the international sport of open water swimming. Future athletes as they compete internationally, will inevitably confront the correct rules and realize the misleading claims made by his PR agent Niki Iliev.”
Iliev posted that Tsankov attempted a 120K in the Danube on Sept. 19-20.
“Whether this time (WOWSA) will take into account all the evidence in the attempt for World Record is (their) job,” Iliev posted on Facebook. “You may not recognize it again. However, we are prepared for any case and decision.”