Recreational cold-water swimming
Our members train in the Vltava throughout the year, with facilities provided by our riverside clubhouse near Braník railway station. Regular training sessions take place on Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings. Most of those who train regularly once or twice a week have forgotten the recurrent colds and bouts of tonsillitis they used to suffer from. Cold-water swimming can therefore help save what we are most short of: time. The time invested in training is generally repaid by spending less time ill.
Recreational cold-water swimming can be enjoyed well into old age. Many of our male and female members are over seventy and still compete successfully in championship events. We do not treat swimming in cold water as a spectacle, nor do we risk our health in pursuit of cold-water “records”. For us, it is a purposeful sporting activity that improves physical and mental fitness and significantly strengthens the immune system.
Competitive winter swimming
Winter swimming is also a competitive sport. At the 25 events in the Czech Winter Swimming Cup, swimmers cover distances from 100 to 1,000 metres according to their ability. Races take place in open water from October to April, usually at temperatures between 0 and 12 °C. Points are awarded according to the distance swum, the water temperature and the swimmer’s finishing position.
The series includes two Czech national championships, held in breaststroke and freestyle. Around 350 swimmers from 30 clubs across the Czech Republic take part in the Czech Winter Swimming Cup each year. In the 2009/10 season, we successfully defended second place in the club competition.
Our club organises two Czech Winter Swimming Cup events: Branické ledy in February and, above all, the longest-running event of its kind in the Czech Republic, the Alfred Nikodém Memorial. Its 64th edition is to take place in 2010. Traditionally held on 26 December in the Vltava at Slovanský ostrov, in front of the National Theatre, it may be familiar to you from Czech (formerly Czechoslovak) Television coverage.