On a beautiful sunny day, with the Vltava wonderfully warm, 23 June 2019 saw our club’s traditional four-part challenge in and beside the river. The main discipline was the time trial. First came a two-hour clubhouse clean-up, then the club conference, followed by the Vltava race as the day’s sporting highlight. Finally, we replenished our energy around the campfire.
All four activities were voluntary. We began at 14:00 and finished around 22:00, when we put out the last of the fire.
The race covered the usual 750 metres, starting and finishing on the Vltava’s bank a few metres from our clubhouse. Swimmers went upstream and back, turning at a buoy before Braník Bridge. The water was 18.2°C and the air 25.0°C.
Thirty-six cold-water swimmers competed, and everyone finished. The first three places went to men: 1. Michael Hudson, 2. Zdeněk Sláma, 3. Michal Štengl. The women’s top three were 1. Nikola Kopecká, 2. Jitka Vachtová, 3. Nela Habelová.
Time-trial results, 23 June 2019 (in Czech)
Thank you to everyone who took part and helped with the work party. We look forward to meeting again for our next triple event in the autumn.