Alfred Nikodem Memorial 2013 – First Prague Cold-Water Swimming Club

Alfred Nikodem Memorial 2013 results

Recent editions of the Alfred Nikodem Memorial have repeatedly broken participation records, and this year was no exception. Last year’s 245 swimmers were surpassed by 42, bringing the new record to 287 participants. If the trend continues, next year could approach 300. Managing so many people would be impossible without the consistently excellent work of all our members who volunteer to organise it every year.

The longest race, 750 metres, also drew a record field: 94 swimmers, comprising 75 men and nineteen women. Czech national long-distance swimmer Lenka Štěrbová of Pardubice entered the memorial’s only competitive distance for the first time. She confirmed her quality by leading from start to finish. Magda Okurková of Fides Brno followed strongly, taking silver seventeen seconds behind, while the winner’s clubmate Iveta Nováková won bronze.

The leading men finished behind all three women. Gold stayed with our club as Petr Tomášek won, followed by PK Zábřeh’s Roman Křupka and Milan Štencl.

Following last year’s debut, the additional Prague 1 Mayor’s Cup team competition returned. It is decided by adding each club’s top three swimmers’ overall finishing places. Fides Brno retained the title with Magda Okurková, Martin Zajden and Róbert Šupa, ahead of I. PKO Praha’s Petr Tomášek, Jakub Valníček and Artur Kubica, and PK Zábřeh’s Roman Křupka, Milan Štencl and Denisa Haltmarová.

The remaining, nearly two hundred swimmers completed the non-competitive 300- and 100-metre distances before several thousand spectators who once again came to the Vltava on St Stephen’s Day.

Download the complete results at the top of the article. Photos appear below.

Oborová zdravotní pojišťovna — main partner of the 2013 Alfred Nikodem Memorial

P.S. We will organise two more competitions this season: Braník Ice on 1 February 2014, followed exactly one month later by the Czech breaststroke championships in Podolí Swimming Stadium’s unheated outdoor pool.

Report by race delegate Tomáš Kocánek: