On 25 September 2016, I. PKO’s cold-water swimmers gathered for their traditional meeting ahead of the 2016/2017 winter season. As usual, it had three parts: a work party, a club trial and a campfire.
The work party thoroughly cleaned both the grounds and the rooms inside our clubhouse. Most effort went into preparing firewood for winter, to provide the warmth our chilled bodies would need after regular club training throughout the season.
The club trial was run by experienced national long-distance swimming coach Jan Srb, assisted with the results by Petr Hubal, the equally experienced editor and administrator of the long-distance and winter swimming website; see the attachment. The 750-metre event attracted a strong turnout of fifty men and women, with two further swimmers completing shorter distances of 450 and 250 metres. Racing conditions and the atmosphere were ideal, as Antonín Kutil’s photograph shows.
The 750-metre results were: men — first Petr Šlajs, second Josef Kysilka, third Jakub Valníček; women — first Zuzana Procházková, second Radmila Srbová, third Michaela Veverková.
The campfire, the evening’s final and most relaxing part, was a great success. A well-tended fire, sausages, drinks, conversation and singing were all present, with the club’s regular singer Michal Kohoutek providing guitar accompaniment. People gradually headed home, and the last three put out the fire at around 23:00.
Although the event followed the familiar pattern of previous years, something was different this time: a change in our collective outlook, and a wish to do a little more in the coming winter season. We were thinking about our personal ambitions and the club’s goal of winning the Czech Winter Swimming Cup ahead of all the other clubs. This open secret is now a challenge to every I. PKO swimmer: the outcome rests in their hands, and they must show whether they are truly determined to give it their all. Let us all hope it succeeds. We will know when the coming season’s final results are announced. What more is there to say? “Pull up your swimming trunks and get swimming!” It is worth a try.
Club-trial results, 25 September 2016
Photo gallery by Antonín Kutil
(a selection from the gallery appears below)
