While the snow has just about melted in Prague, up in Dvur Kralove which nests in the foothills of the Giant mountains (Krkonose) there is still plenty of snow, with piles up to about 5 metres high in places.
Of course the temperature is also low, still hovering around zero during the day. As you can see on this video the river is a little icy and on Saturday the water in the Labe river was 1.5c.
Having spent the last 2 or 3 weeeks swimming in water at around 3c, this was a nice wake up call just to remind us that winter is still here with us and spring must wait its turn.
It was also snowing and 500 metres took some getting in such conditions. Then there was no easy escape at the finish as there was a traffic jam for the 1 ladder,which was about a 4 metre climb out of the water and wasn’t easy to negotiate. However, it ws the only way out of the river.
Another tough winter willl surely soon be over and we can spend spring swimming in cold water rather than icy water ! After almost 4 months of sub 4c water the body is ready for better weather & warmer water…. but longer distances !
Here is a short rough cut from a January winter swimming exhibition in Chocen Czech Republic. This material will not feature in the professional film which is currently in production.
The Finish & in the distance - the start. River Morava, Olomouc
Toboggan, rollercoaster, fairground ride – all words that were used to describe the winter swimming competition in the Morava Rapids, sorry I mean the Morava River on saturday 27th of February.
Two months of snow and extreme conditions all but dissapeared in the 5 days prior to the competition and water levels swelled and the river began to resemble something like mountain rapids.
Cold water swimming is always fun but on this day we really were in for a fast and furious ride as over 60 participants lined up for the longest 750m course.
To read the full report and see more photos put the mouse on REPORTS and then REPORTS FEB 2010 or simply click on this link
This meeting of cold water swimmers is still organised by the 96 year old Dr Vladimir (Lada) Nicek and is well supported being part of the Czech cup series of races.
This is real cold water swimming with water temperatures always icy – below 4c.
