Two Czech national championships are held each season as part of the Czech Winter Swimming Cup. The first, in freestyle, took place on Saturday 8 February at its usual venue in Brno. I. PKO’s swimmers brought home six medals. Although that was slightly fewer than last year, it was enough to retain second place in the club medal table. Read more…
Published in Magazín MF DNES on 30 January 2014. Read more…
Swimmers at the twelfth Braník Ice faced a Vltava flow almost ten times lower than last year. Held for the third time as the Ladislav Nicek Memorial, this edition avoided major extremes, unlike last year’s first-level flood alert or the previous year’s −14°C air temperature. Read more…
On Saturday 11 January 2014, I. PKO Praha chairman Tomáš Prokop appeared on ČT24’s Studio 6 víkend. He talked with presenter Petra Krmelová about cold-water swimming events, Czech Winter Swimming Cup races and cold-water swimming in general. Watch the interview in the video below. Read more…
On Sunday 5 January 2014, the traditional swimmers’ baptism took place in the Vltava beside our Braník clubhouse. Conditions were similar for the third year running: no snow, water at 4.5°C and air at 4.0°C (2013: 6.2/6.0°C; 2012: 5.0/4.0°C). Around twenty people were baptised — the newcomers, visiting guests and one special “cold-water swimmer”, six-month-old Richard Haan Jr. Other longstanding members then renewed their baptism by tradition. Below are the names of the newly baptised swimmers and guests, a short video report and photos. Read more…
The first Sunday in January, 5 January 2014, brings our traditional cold-water swimmers’ baptism. As every year, the event is open to swimmers and the public. New members and visitors receive their first baptism, followed by longstanding members renewing theirs by tradition. A report from the previous year, including photos and TV Barrandov coverage, is available here. Full event details follow. Read more…
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. Read more…
I. plavecký klub otužilců Praha warmly invites you to the 67th Alfred Nikodem Memorial, our Christmas swimming competition in the Vltava.
The oldest and best-known cold-water swimming event will take place on Thursday 26 December 2013, St Stephen’s Day, at 11:00 in the Vltava beside Prague’s National Theatre. Read more…
Even at the height of summer, winter swimmers are not short of serious challenges. In early August, forty swimmers from fourteen countries, including the Czech Republic, will attempt an intercontinental relay from Russia to the USA.
Strong ocean currents will probably extend the 85-kilometre route across the Bering Strait to more than 100 kilometres. Swimmers will face icy waves and water around 3°C without wetsuits. No comparable relay has crossed the strait before, so success would earn an entry in the Guinness Book of Records. Read more…
On 20 September 2013, Braník hosted our eagerly awaited traditional “triathlon”: a WORKING PARTY to tidy the grounds, a roughly 900-metre CLUB TRIAL IN THE VLTAVA to test our fitness, and a closing CAMPFIRE with sausages, beer and singing to a guitar. Read more…
