On Saturday 10 February 2018, 151 swimmers gathered in Brno-Bystrc for the Czech Championships and Czech Winter Swimming Cup. Under race director Michal Moravec and the organising FIDES Brno club, the event ran superbly and to everyone’s complete satisfaction. Many thanks to all the organisers.
The Svratka is challenging every year. This time, the water was 1.8°C and the air 1.0°C. Watching swimmers leave the water after finishing, every spectator could see how demanding the swim had been. My thanks also go to everyone who helped competitors before their starts and after their swims. Such help is a gesture of friendship that often crosses club boundaries.
Races took place on a 250-metre circuit, over 100, 250, 500 and, at the longest, 750 metres. The fastest man over 750 metres was Richard Nyáry (SoHK) in 10:56.6, and the fastest woman was Lenka Štěrbová (I. PKO) in 9:18.6. However, Richard Nyáry won “only” the Czech Cup race: he had not qualified for the national championships, having completed too few qualifying competitions and consequently earned insufficient points.
Championship heats were divided by age group. The opening contest was the junior girls’ 100 metres between Nikola Kopecká (I. PKO) and Tereza Macholdová (TJTá). The more experienced Nikola took first place and the national title.
The women’s 18–39 category produced some excellent racing over 750 metres. As expected, favourite Lenka Štěrbová pulled away from the opening metres, but the other places remained undecided almost to the finish. Only in the final straight did Victoria Mori (I. PKO) move into second ahead of Renata Nováková (SCPAP), after both had swum around men from the preceding heat. Fourth and fifth were also contested to the last few metres, when Zuzana Procházková (I. PKO) used her long strokes to pass Magda Okurková (FiBr).
Our club fielded 49 swimmers, earning an excellent 11,635 points. The second-largest team was host club FIDES Brno, with 27 swimmers and 5,916 points. In all, 147 swimmers represented 18 clubs, with four unaffiliated competitors. Unfortunately, rescue personnel also had work to do, looking after swimmers suffering from hypothermia.
The national championship awards ceremony took place at Brno Exhibition Centre’s Pavilion Z during the 2018 Olympic Festival. Medallists and everyone present enjoyed the ceremony, part of which was even broadcast live by Czech Television.
Alongside individual successes, we can celebrate first place in the club medal table: I. PKO Praha won 15 medals — six gold, five silver and four bronze. Second-placed FIDES Brno won 11 in its home river, the Svratka (5/3/3). Eight other clubs took home one medal each. The most successful of those was Univerzita Olomouc, thanks to Jaromír Švestka’s Masters C gold.
Results
100 m junior boys, ages 15–17:
1. Jirsák Jakub 2002 I.PKO 2:55,9
100 m junior girls, ages 15–17:
1. Kopecká Nikola 2001 I.PKO 01:28,1
2. Macholdová Tereza 2003 TJTá 01:31,3
3. Šůchová Veronika 2003 KSOPl 01:44,7
750 m men, ages 18–39:
1. Slanina Michal 1990 FiBr 11:12,6
2. Smisitel Ondřej 1994 FiBr 12:50,8
3. Pilát Tomáš 1980 I.PKO 13:22,1
750 m women, ages 18–39:
1. Štěrbová Lenka 1994 I.PKO 09:19,0
2. Mori Victoria 1993 I.PKO 10:40,3
3. Nováková Renata 1997 SCPAP 10:41,9
750 m men, Masters A, ages 40–49:
1. Valníček Jakub 1970 I.PKO 11:29,9
2. Sláma Zdeněk 1978 I.PKO 12:37,0
3. Pekárek Jaroslav 1976 I.PKO 12:44,4
500 m women, Masters A, ages 40–49:
1. Eremiášová Radka 1978 FiBr 07:32,4
2. Zbořilová Dana 1975 Haná 09:32,7
3. Srbová Radmila 1976 I.PKO 09:46,8
500 m men, Masters B, ages 50–59:
1. Bend Jan 1968 I.PKO 12:20,8
2. Kunc Petr 1967 FiBr 14:02,7
3. Mihola Petr 1961 FiBr 14:13,6
500 m women, Masters B, ages 50–59:
1. Dvořáková Alžběta 1961 I.PKO 07:37,5
2. Procházková Pavlína 1964 I.PKO 09:36,0
3. Benešová Václava 1967 FiBr 10:32,6
500 m men, Masters C, ages 60–69:
1. Švestka Jaromír 1958 UnOl 09:04,3
2. Suchopa Radomír 1956 FiBr 09:25,3
3. Haan Richard 1949 I.PKO 12:18,0
250 m women, Masters C, ages 60–69:
1. Matuštíková Jana 1957 FiBr 05:26,1
2. Čudanová Vlasta 1950 I.PKO 05:44,6
3. Pavézková Helena1958 FiBr 06:17,3
250 m men, Masters D, over 70:
1. Hanuš Bedřich 1942 FiBr 05:58,3
2. Hejkrlík Jiří 1948 I.PKO 06:12,1
3. Štěpán Michael 1943 SoNP 06:13,3
250 m women, Masters D, over 70:
1. Fialová Vladimíra 1947 FiBr 02:59,6
2. Krčmařová Alena 1943 JPK 03:39,8
3. Vyskočilová Blanka 1939 SoHK 05:05,6
Full results:
Results — Czech Championships, Brno 2018 ↗
Results — Czech Cup, Brno 2018 ↗