78th Alfred Nikodem Memorial 2024

UPDATED 7 January 2025 Added Jan Jirkovský’s photo gallery and links to articles with photo galleries on Novinky.cz, Sportovnilisty.cz, Prazsky-magazin.cz, Prazska-drbna.cz, Blesk.cz and Prazskypatriot.cz.

Christmas would not be Christmas without the Alfred Nikodem Memorial. Keeping that tradition alive, cold-water swimmers gathered once again beneath the National Theatre on St Stephen’s Day, 26 December.

I. PKO Praha organised the 78th edition of the event. Some 362 swimmers and cold-water enthusiasts took to the river beneath the sunlit National Theatre, watched by Prague residents from Masaryk Embankment, Legion Bridge and Střelecký Island opposite.

The opening ceremony took place at 11:00 on the pontoon at the northern tip of Slovanský Island. Prague 1 Mayor Terezie Radoměřská welcomed the swimmers and spectators and presented a trophy to Andrea Klementová from Třebíč, the only Czech woman to swim the English Channel that year. Petr Ryška, former president and current honorary president of the Czech Swimming Federation, also greeted the athletes and the crowd. Race director and organising club chairman Tomáš Prokop thanked Alena Nováková and her son Radek Novák for donating the valuable photographic archive of Štěpán Polák. Polák’s portrait featured on this year’s commemorative badges, marking thirty years since his death. In tribute to this major figure in Czechoslovak winter swimming, I. PKO members Lenka Škvorová and Zuzana Štrachová put together a wonderful exhibition about his life, in and beyond sport. Swimmers and passers-by could view it outside Žofín Palace, which once again provided facilities for the competitors.

After the opening ceremony, the swimmers were ready to enter the chilly Vltava. Its temperature had been falling over the preceding days and reached 4.3°C, while the organisers measured an air temperature of −3.5°C.

With the Czech Red Cross Water Rescue Service from Prague 6 and Prague 1 firefighters keeping watch, the 750-metre swimmers started first. Twenty women and fifty-two men completed this distance. After a dramatic race, Lenka Pavlacká (formerly Štěrbová) won outright across both sexes, taking her tenth overall victory at the event. The first man, Tomáš Ludvík (LoBe), finished three seconds behind her. In a thrilling finish, he edged past the host club’s Jakub Kačerovský in the final centimetres to win by a tenth of a second. Jiří Polanský (USK) was third. Among the women, Šárka Landsmannová (I. PKO) finished second and Andrea Klementová (KLMT) third. As usual, Michal Štěrba — father of the overall winner — provided commentary for the race and the whole day’s swimming.

Once the 750-metre swimmers had finished, the river was free for recreational cold-water swimmers who preferred the shorter distances. These included both members of clubs affiliated to the Czech Swimming Federation and unaffiliated swimmers. Every year, large numbers of unaffiliated swimmers take part after meeting the entry requirements, and they come from well beyond the Czech Republic. This year, swimmers beneath the National Theatre’s famous golden roof included visitors from Slovakia, Poland, Austria and Germany, as well as England, Belgium, Hungary, Italy, the USA and Iran.

The Alfred Nikodem Memorial offers two shorter distances: the 100-metre Štěpán Polák Memorial and the 300-metre Oldřich Liška Memorial. A total of 103 men and 52 women took part in the latter, while 85 men and 50 women swam the 100 metres. Few were surprised to see Petr Ryška (JPK) among them: this was his fifth time taking an active part. The real surprise for spectators was Prague 1 Mayor Terezie Radoměřská’s participation in the 100-metre swim. Having trained conscientiously throughout the autumn, she completed the distance comfortably and had even joined the organising club, I. PKO, just before Christmas.

This year’s youngest participant was twelve-year-old Kateřina Rejzková from Holoubkov. The oldest swimmer was Blanka Vyskočilová from Hradec Králové, born in 1939.

After all the distances had been completed, swimmers and their companions were invited to the awards ceremony and a generous prize raffle. As every year, it took place in the decorated Small Hall of the Neo-Renaissance Žofín Palace. Prague 1 Mayor Terezie Radoměřská presented the prizes with Petr Ryška and race director Tomáš Prokop. The Prague 1 District Cup was once again contested by teams made up of each participating club’s three highest-placed swimmers. As in previous years, the host club, I. PKO Praha, won the trophy.

The awards were followed by the raffle, and most people in the Small Hall went home with a prize from one of the event’s partners: Born To Swim, Fiskars, Jůzek-elektro, the Czech Olympic Committee or the family jewellery company JK Jitka Kudláčková. The latter also presented a valuable piece of jewellery to each of the three fastest women over 750 metres. We must also thank Masi-co for supplying the sausages that are a traditional part of the event for all participants. Pražské Benátky was the event’s main partner.

The event was also supported by Prague City Hall, Prague 1 District, the Czech Sports Union and the companies Pražská plynárenská, SUPTel, Etewa, Elektroštika and Bytostav.

This year’s event once again formed part of the Czech Sports Union’s “Tipsport sportuj s námi!” (“Play sport with us!”) programme, the largest sports project ever held in the Czech Republic.

Thank you to all of this year’s partners!

On behalf of the organising club, thank you to every participant and supporter of the Alfred Nikodem Memorial. We look forward to seeing you by the water again!