First Prague Cold-Water Swimming Club – Page 3 – The oldest and largest cold-water swimming club in the Czech Republic

14th Winter Swimming World Championships 2024, Tallinn

A report on I. PKO Praha’s participation

Anyone who needed a proper cool-down after a mild Czech winter could head to the World Championships in Tallinn for a dip in icy salt water. The 14th Winter Swimming World Championships took place in a floating outdoor pool in the marina at Tallinn’s harbour in Estonia, from 5 to 9 March 2024. On its website, organiser IWSA set the mood with northern tales of seals and polar bears living in harmony. Seals in the colours of the Estonian flag featured in the championships’ emblem, and polar bears on the medals. Fishing those beautiful medals out of the sea was especially difficult this year, with more than 1,300 swimmers from five continents providing formidable competition. Naturally, our club was there, along with other Czech Winter Swimming Cup competitors: a large contingent from Brno and swimmers from České Budějovice, Hradec Králové, Plzeň and elsewhere. Our I. PKO Praha team comprised twelve swimmers.

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Invitation to the I. PKO cold-water swimmers’ baptism 2024

As usual, our traditional cold-water swimmers’ baptism will take place on the first Sunday after New Year, which this time falls on 7 January 2024. The event is open to all cold-water swimmers and the public. New club members are baptised, while other members and visitors traditionally return for their annual baptism too.

This year’s ceremony will also be attended by our honorary member Jan Novák, who swam the English Channel in 1974 and 1975. In a symbolic case of “third time lucky”, he will give another ceremonial christening to a book by our fellow member and journalist Jan David: “MRZNEME NAPŘÍČ VLTAVOU – 100 let zimního plavání od dob průkopníka Alfreda Nikodéma” (“Freezing Across the Vltava — 100 Years of Winter Swimming Since Pioneer Alfred Nikodém”). Copies will be available to buy at the event on special terms.

Practical information

77th Alfred Nikodem Memorial 2023

Ninety-nine years of an unbroken tradition: every Christmas, year after year, cold-water swimmers have taken to the icy Vltava in Prague. At first they were thought to be mad… During the Second World War they kept the custom alive despite a Nazi ban carrying the death penalty… Sometimes the ice was so thick that the water froze again as they cut through it… Even Covid-19 did not stop the tradition: twice, the Nikodem Memorial went ahead under a Ministry of Health exemption secured thanks to the event’s renown… Then so much water came rushing beneath the National Theatre that, after a hundred years, the tradition might finally be broken? The answer was simple: Read more…

100 years in the icy Vltava: information for the 77th Alfred Nikodem Memorial (race cancelled)

UPDATED 25 December 2023 — EVENT CANCELLED

Nature is against us. This morning we learned that further rainfall, strong warm winds and thawing mean that Vrané nad Vltavou Reservoir must release much more water than before. It is not yet visible on the Flood Forecasting and Warning Service website, but the Vltava’s flow in Prague is expected to increase sharply. We may no longer be able to ensure the event’s safety.

The 77th Alfred Nikodem Memorial is therefore cancelled.

Thank you to everyone who helped organise and prepare the event. We are sorry; there was nothing more we could do.

Alfred Nikodem Memorial 2023: information for unaffiliated swimmers

The Alfred Nikodem Memorial will take place, as usual, on 26 December at 11:00 at the northern tip of Slovanský Island. We are delighted that you are interested in its 77th edition. Swimmers who are not registered with the Czech Swimming Federation are welcome, provided they meet the requirements below.

Swimming news

Wannado Festival — 9 September 2023

Dear cold-water swimming enthusiasts, Wannado Festival 2023 (formerly Sporťáček), an event introducing children to sports clubs, will take place at Branická louka on Saturday 9 September 2023 from 10:00 to 17:00. Our club, I. PKO Praha, will be taking part for the first time. We may even be the first to present cold adaptation and winter swimming at the festival. Our stand will be near the steps below the clubhouse. We would love you to visit with your children and try out ways of introducing them to adapting to the cold. Everyone is warmly welcome, and of course you can simply come and have a look. Further details: https://www.wannadosports.com/festival/

13th Winter Swimming World Championships 2023, Bled: our club’s report

In a natural paradise beneath Slovenia’s snow-covered Julian Alps, the enchantingly beautiful Lake Bled hosted the 13th Winter Swimming World Championships. Organiser IWSA promised swimming in a winter fairy tale and crystal-clear water. Bled also has a long swimming tradition stretching back to the nineteenth century, when cold water was already used therapeutically at the lakeside spa.

Club life

Traditional cold-water swimmers’ baptism in the Vltava 2023

On the first Sunday after New Year, 8 January 2023, our cold-water swimmers’ baptism took place on the right bank of the Vltava in its usual spot below the clubhouse.

As we have mentioned before, this event has deep roots in our club’s history: it was being reported in the press as far back as 1948!

Traditionally open to I. PKO Praha members and swimmers from outside the club alike, it attracted complete newcomers as well as longstanding members.

Club life

Invitation to I. PKO’s cold-water swimmers’ baptism

Our traditional cold-water swimmers’ baptism will take place, as usual, on the first Sunday after New Year’s Day — this time, 8 January 2023. The event is open to all cold-water swimmers and the general public. We baptise new club members, while other members and visitors traditionally return for another baptism each year. This is a long-standing tradition: a press report mentions it as far back as 1948. Read more…

The 76th Alfred Nikodem Memorial, 2022

As much a part of Christmas in Prague as ever, the Alfred Nikodem Memorial returned on Boxing Day, organised by I. plavecký klub otužilců Praha. This was its 76th edition in the Vltava below the National Theatre. The tradition of Christmas swimming in Prague’s Vltava, however, goes back 99 years: Alfred Nikodem himself first gave a public demonstration of cold-water swimming in 1923, with just six companions, near Čech Bridge. Read more…

We practise recreational cold-water swimming and competitive winter swimming. Our members can train in the Vltava at Prague-Braník throughout the year. We actively take part in the Czech Winter Swimming Cup and the Czech Open-Water Swimming Cup.

We regularly organise three official winter swimming competitions ourselves. Alongside Branické ledy, there is the oldest and most prestigious cold-water swimming event, the Alfred Nikodém Memorial. It takes place every year on Boxing Day in the Vltava in front of the National Theatre.

In recent years, we have also regularly hosted the Czech Winter Swimming Breaststroke Championships in the outdoor, unheated pool at the Podolí swimming stadium.

During the summer season, we also take part in open-water races in the Czech Open-Water Swimming Cup series.

Our club includes many members from abroad and from all over Czechia. One of the best examples of how cold-water swimming brings people together is the rapidly growing community in northern Moravia — our thriving “second leg”, Otužilci Frýdek-Místek. Find out more at www.otuzilcifm.cz.

Otužilci Frýdek-Místek is also where the Czech cold-water swimming app JSEM TU! originated. Our club has been using it since autumn 2026. JSEM TU! is a free app made by cold-water swimmers for cold-water swimmers, and we are happy to recommend it. More at www.jsemtu.info/otuzko.

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