Braník Ice 2017 – First Prague Cold-Water Swimming Club

On Saturday 4 February 2017, Braník Ice took place as one of the three major winter swimming events run by I. PKO. This season’s first and most prominent event, the 70th Alfred Nikodem Memorial, is already behind us; the third, our fifth Czech Winter Swimming Breaststroke Championships at Prague-Podolí, still lies ahead.

We can say straight away that the event was another success and appears increasingly popular with swimmers, as the growing number of participants shows. But first things first.

Braník Ice 2017, the fifteenth cold-water swimming competition in the Vltava. Photo: Ivan Landa

Braník Ice officially opened with the swimmers assembling on the Vltava bank at 12:30 on Saturday. Event director Tomáš Prokop briefly outlined the competition’s tradition and introduced several swimmers, notably two visiting English Channel swimmers: Britain’s Kerry O’Hara and Ireland’s Rachel Doyle. Chief referee Jan Novák then opened the competition with the traditional cheer, and everyone headed to their respective starts. The information board displayed at the assembly made it clear that conditions truly deserved the name “winter swimming”: water at 2°C, air at 1.5°C, snow everywhere and a large turnout all lent character to this edition.

Men’s 1,000-metre medallists. Photo: Ivan Landa

There were 228 swimmers, 165 men and 63 women, over 100, 250, 500, 750 and 1,000 metres. In the premier one-kilometre event, Richard Nyáry won the men’s race, Michal Slanina was second and our I. PKO representative Jakub Valníček third. Our strength was underlined by the unusually high number of club swimmers in the men’s top ten: seven! Among women, I. PKO’s Lenka Štěrbová won, followed by Magda Okurková and Renata Nováková. We should also mention excellent fourth and seventh places for our Zuzana Procházková and Radmila Srbová. The other timed distance, 750 metres, brought success for Pavlína Procházková, third behind Iveta Nováková and Radka Eremiášová. The men’s top three were Jaromír Švestka, Jan Pelíšek and Lukáš Kalina, followed by our Pavel Baciák in fourth. The results sheet gives the complete standings for the two longest, timed distances and lists participants over 500, 250 and 100 metres.

Women’s 1,000-metre medallists. Photo: Jiří Kuřina

This year’s Braník Ice was exceptional in two respects: the strong international turnout, both in and outside the competition, with swimmers from Poland, Italy, Slovakia, Ireland, Russia, Great Britain and Sweden; and the large I. PKO team and its excellent performances. The international attendance was undoubtedly helped by another major event the following day: Sunday’s increasingly popular Kryathlon, also organised by I. PKO members. Holding the events together clearly increases their appeal at home and abroad. Meanwhile, I. PKO’s strong performances and turnout fit the strategy of this exceptional season, in which the club’s declared ambition is to win the Czech Winter Swimming Cup club title. After Braník Ice, our lead over the second-placed Brno club was around 23,000 points. That suggests the ambitious plan could succeed, provided our swimmers keep competing as they have so far right through to the end. The entire team deserves great credit for its good work.

In conclusion, Braník Ice 2017 really was a resounding success. But the winter swimming caravan moves on, and we must stay alert. Nine competitions remain, and we need to handle them well so that we can celebrate together: “He who laughs last laughs best.”

The accompanying photographs complete the picture of the friendly, relaxed atmosphere at this year’s Braník Ice.