79th Alfred Nikodém Memorial 2025 – First Prague Cold-Water Swimming Club

For cold-water swimmers and supporters of this wonderful, healthy sport, Boxing Day is inseparable from the Alfred Nikodém Memorial. The oldest and largest cold-water swimming competition in the Czech Republic traditionally takes place on St Stephen’s Day in the Vltava below Prague’s National Theatre.

This year was no exception. On 26 December we gathered once again on Slovanský Island, home to the magnificent Žofín Palace. For many years, the palace has provided not only a beautiful setting for registration and the awards ceremony, but also welcoming facilities throughout the competition.

Slovanský Island greeted us with a truly frosty morning. The air temperature was −4°C, so alongside the quiet streets of early-morning Prague, participants could enjoy the fairytale sight of frost-covered trees in the park around Žofín Palace.

There were 262 advance entries from swimmers registered with clubs belonging to the Czech Swimming Federation. A substantial further group consisted of swimmers unaffiliated with any club, coming from across Czechia and abroad. They too had to submit evidence of their cold-water swimming experience in advance, together with a current medical examination form. This year 108 such swimmers entered, bringing the organisers’ pre-event total to 370.

Check-in took place as usual in the foyer of Žofín Palace. On confirming their attendance, each swimmer received the traditional commemorative badge, which always features someone closely associated with the Alfred Nikodém Memorial. The identity of the person depicted is kept secret each year until registration opens, making it a surprise for everyone. This year’s badges bore the portrait of Jaromír Laštovka, who helped the event run smoothly for decades as head of the water rescue team.

At 11 am, the swimmers assembled at the tip of Slovanský Island for the opening ceremony. Race director Tomáš Prokop and the Mayor of Prague 1, Terezie Radoměřská, honoured two swimmers who had crossed the English Channel and one who had crossed the North Channel during the past season. Ms Radoměřská once again granted her patronage to the event’s 79th edition, as did the Mayor of Prague, Bohuslav Svoboda. We warmly thank them both, and the authorities they represent — Prague 1 and Prague City Hall — for their patronage and all their support.

From a pontoon provided by this year’s main partner, Pražské Benátky, the mayor welcomed the swimmers and the thousands of spectators. Jaromír Laštovka, featured on the commemorative badges, also attended the opening ceremony. The English Channel swimmers receiving trophies commissioned by the organising club were Alina Jogl (Otužilci Promrzlé pyjavice České Budějovice) and Jakub Kačerovský (I. PKO Praha), who recorded the fastest Channel crossing of any swimmer in the world that year. The mayor presented a third trophy to Michal Slanina (Fides Brno) for his North Channel crossing. We also welcomed the event’s oldest and youngest participants: Andrej Dzuba (born 1942, Haná Prostějov) and Vojtěch Kočina (born 2012, from Černčice, representing I. PKO Praha).

The first swimmers then plunged into the 3.6°C Vltava for the longest distance, 750 m, raced as the František Venclovský Memorial.

The swimmers started in three waves. A timing gate reading the chip of each swimmer passing underneath also helped to keep track of the race order.

Sixty-eight swimmers tackled the longest distance. Lenka Pavlacká (SCPAP) took the overall victory for the eleventh time, narrowly beating Jakub Kačerovský, who won the men’s category.

Šárka Landsmannová (I. PKO Praha) finished second among the women, with third place going back to Pardubice thanks to Renata Nováková (SCPAP). In the men’s race, Jiří Polanský (USK Praha) was second and Michal Slanina third.

As usual, Michal Štěrba provided commentary throughout the day, including the awards ceremony. Thanks in part to him, the thousands watching from Legií Bridge, the adjacent embankment and Střelecký Island could follow every stage of the racing.

Once the 750 m race had finished, swimmers entered the water for the 300 m Oldřich Liška Memorial and the 100 m Štěpán Polák Memorial. These two distances again attracted the largest fields: 150 swimmers completed the 300 m and 113 the 100 m. In all, 331 swimmers took part this year.

After their swims, participants and their supporters moved to the Small Hall of Žofín Palace. Its beautiful surroundings hosted the prize-giving and a well-stocked raffle. The three fastest women also received jewellery from event partner JK Jitka Kudláčková, a family jewellery business.

The main race awards were followed by the traditional Prague 1 Cup team competition. The result is based on each club’s three highest-placed swimmers in the 750 m race. Once again, the organising club — I. plavecký klub otužilců Praha — won the cup. Jakub Kačerovský, Šárka Landsmannová and Martin Volf received it from the mayor. Fides Brno finished second and SCPAP Pardubice third.

The event was again part of the Czech Union of Sport’s ‘Sportuj s námi’ (‘Play Sport with Us’) project and, as noted above, received support from Prague City Hall and Prague 1. Numerous generous partners also helped, donating valuable raffle prizes among other contributions. The raffle followed the awards immediately, with almost every ticket a winner. We hope as many of you as possible took home something that brought you pleasure. As always, the raffle was open to swimmers, their companions and spectators alike.

Last, but very much not least, our heartfelt thanks go to everyone who helped organise the 79th Alfred Nikodém Memorial. An event on this scale depends on dozens of people giving up their own time over Christmas. Many work out of sight, yet without them we could never maintain the standard we have striven to achieve over the years — we hope to everyone’s satisfaction.

Thank you to all swimmers, partners, spectators and organisers. We look forward to seeing you again next year for the landmark 80th Alfred Nikodém Memorial, in the Vltava beneath the National Theatre!

Main event partner

Partners

Results

Alfred Nikodém Memorial 2025 — results (Czech original)

Television coverage

Alfred Nikodém Memorial 2025 — Czech Television, 12:00 news preview

Alfred Nikodém Memorial 2025 — Czech Television, 12:00 news

Alfred Nikodém Memorial 2025 — Czech Television, 16:00 news preview

Alfred Nikodém Memorial 2025 — Czech Television, 16:00 news

Alfred Nikodém Memorial 2025 — Czech Television, 19:00 Události preview

Alfred Nikodém Memorial 2025 — Czech Television, 19:00 Události

Alfred Nikodém Memorial 2025 — TV NOVA, 19:30 Televizní noviny

Alfred Nikodém Memorial 2025 — CNN Prima NEWS, 16:00 news

Alfred Nikodém Memorial 2025 — CNN Prima NEWS, 18:55 main news

Alfred Nikodém Memorial 2025 — Sky News

Alfred Nikodém Memorial 2025 — Reuters

ČT SPORT REPORT — Alfred Nikodém Memorial 2025: 31 December 2025, 15 minutes (in Czech)

Other media coverage:

Media coverage before the event:

Photo gallery

Photos: Daniel Skuhra

Photos: Martin Černý

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