As every year, on 26 December 2009 we organised the oldest Czech cold-water swimming competition, the Alfred Nikodem Memorial. Its 63rd edition offered 100-, 300- and 750-metre distances. Racing began at the customary 11:00, with beautiful sunshine giving spectators a fine view from Masarykovo Embankment outside the National Theatre and from Legion Bridge. There were 162 swimmers, including 29 women — the highest turnout in twenty years.
Water temperature depends both on the weather and on releases from the reservoirs. A week before the competition, the water was 3.5°C. On St Stephen’s Day, the official race water temperature was 4.0°C, with air at 3.5°C.
Download the results.
MF Plus published an article about cold-water swimming and the Alfred Nikodem Memorial, including photographs from previous years. It is available to download below.
The Alfred Nikodem Memorial on television: ČT4 Sport will broadcast fifteen minutes of highlights on 28 December 2009 at 22:05, with a repeat planned for 30 December at 10:50. Based on previous years, shorter clips can also be expected in the news on race day.
Swimmers’ baptism: our next public event is the traditional cold-water swimmers’ baptism at 10:30 on 3 January 2010 outside our clubhouse in Prague-Braník, beside the Kotva campsite (nearest stop Nádraží Braník, trams 3, 16, 17 and 21).
Links and downloads:
- Results (PDF)
- Cold-water swimmers on the Vltava — ČT4 Sport, 28 December 2009 (15-minute programme)
- Television report — ČT1 News, 26 December 2009
- Report — ČT24, 26 December 2009
- Download the article (in Czech), A Willing and Passionate BRRR!, MF Plus, 18. 12. 2009 (PDF).
- Event regulations (in Czech) (PDF)
- Photo gallery by Jirka Kuřina on Facebook
- Alfred Nikodem Memorial 2008