I. plavecký klub otužilců Praha warmly invites you to the 73rd edition of the Christmas swimming event in the Vltava — the Alfred Nikodem Memorial.
This long-established and celebrated cold-water swimming event takes place on Thursday 26 December 2019, Boxing Day, at 11:00 in the Vltava beside Prague’s National Theatre.
Swimmers from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Belgium, England, Russia and Kazakhstan will take part. The course crosses the Vltava between Střelecký and Slovanský islands, with both start and finish on the bank of Slovanský Island. Distances are 100, 300 and 750 metres.
The Vltava will welcome leading swimmers with international honours alongside recreational cold-water swimmers, who chiefly enjoy healthy activity in winter water with equally enthusiastic friends. Numbers grow every year: after last year’s 399, this year’s total could exceed four hundred.
The water is holding at around 6°C, so swimmers are unlikely to earn their cold-water proficiency grades beside the National Theatre this year either. Those grades can only be earned in “ice water”, defined as water at or below 4°C.
The event again forms part of the Czech Union of Sport’s “Sportuj s námi” programme.
It is also supported by Mladá fronta a.s., SUPTel a.s., BYTOSTAV s.r.o., Fiskars, Etewa s.r.o., Born To Swim s.r.o., Agama Diving, Prague City Hall and the Prague 1 district, which co-organises the event.
For the eighth time, the organisers are including a team competition based on the results of each participating club’s three best-placed swimmers. Mayor Pavel Čižinský and councillor for culture, sport and associations Petr Burgr will present the Prague 1 Cup in person.
All awards will again be presented in the ceremonial Small Hall of Žofín Palace. Czech Swimming Federation president Petr Ryška will attend, underlining the event’s sporting importance. Having trained in cold water throughout the autumn, he plans to make his Memorial swimming debut over 100 metres. Olympic snowboard cross champion and occasional cold-water swimmer Eva Samková may also greet those attending the ceremony.
Further information, especially for swimmers, is available in the event programme (in Czech):
73rd Alfred Nikodém Memorial — event information ↗
Partners of the 73rd Alfred Nikodem Memorial
Cold-water swimmers’ baptism: come along on Sunday 5 January 2020 at 15:00 to our traditional baptism in the Vltava channel beside the Kotva campsite in Prague-Braník (Nádraží Braník tram stop, routes 3 and 17).