The hardy today in the Vltava fought against cold water and a strong current | Sports | Prague Gossip
Today, at the 76th edition of the Alfred Nikodem Memorial on Slovanské ostrov in Prague, 350 enthusiasts enjoyed a traditional Christmas swim in the Vltava. They had to contend not only with water at a temperature of 4.9 Celsius, but also with a strong current. Because of this, the organizers changed the route.
In front of hundreds of onlookers, the athletes completed three courses, a timed competition of 750 meters as the František Venclovský Memorial and two traditional fitness courses, one hundred meters as the Štěpán Polák Memorial and three hundred meters as the Oldřich Liška Memorial.
“We have such a big current that we had to completely change the course due to the regularity of the competition, and instead of two circuits we swim four hidden in the silence behind Slovanské ostrov. It is the wine of the weather. A fortnight ago, especially in the mountains, it snowed a lot and it was freezing, then suddenly there was a downpour and everything from Šumava flows to us in Prague. At the same time, it rained and all tributaries such as Berounka and Sázava converged in Prague,” said the director of the competition and the chairman of the 1st swimming club of the tougher Prague Tomas Prokop.
Today in the Vltava they measured 4.9 degrees Celsius with an air temperature of 8.5 degrees Celsius. The warm weather was not kind to people who use the tougher performance levels. It can be obtained in water with a temperature of up to four degrees Celsius.
Lenka Štěrbová won ninth among women on the competitive 750-meter long track. Rostislav Vítek was the fastest among men. The oldest swimmers were Milena Holubcová, Iva Klásková and Jiří Hájek, all born in 1947, the youngest registered participants were twelve-year-old Eliška Racková and Tomáš Augustin from Most, Daniel Dolín from Prague and Jáchym Vido from Dolní Břežane.
Among the participants of the traditional event were this year’s La Manche overcomers Pavlína Procházková and Michal Brauner, previous La Manche overcomers Jakub Valníček, Radek Táborský, Aleš Rucký and Austrian swimmer Josef Köberl. The family line-up of this year’s Czech relay across the English Channel also arrived, 57-year-old mother Pavlína Procházková with daughters Zuzana Procházková, Jana Procházková and Kateřina Hájková. The soloist of the Prague State Opera and winner of the Thalia Award for 2010, Richard Haan, was also present this year.
Vladimír Komárek, who was the director of this event ten times, took part in the Alfred Nikodem Memorial for the fiftieth time. “I remember years when the water temperature was close to zero, the warmest Vltava I experienced at the memorial was 6.9 degrees,” he recalled A mosquito.
The first Christmas performance of the tough guys in the Vltava, then under the leadership of Alfred Nikodém himself, took place in 1923. He considers the event from 1947 to be the first year under the name Alfred Nikodém Memorial. A record 431 tough guys took part in the memorial in 2019.