Aaarrrgh! battling to reach the turn buoy in front
Spare a thought for the lovers of cold water swimming in the Czech Republic as the autumn has brought water temperatures below 6c only once and that was 4 weeks ago in the ever freezng Vysocina region. Again on Saturday the 20th of November it was business as usual and positively autumnal swimming conditions for the 7th round of the ongoing Czech cup of winter swimming. At least the air temperature was down to around 5c for most of the morning but it wasn’t enough and the water in the wonderful Cehovice pond was a pleasant(ish) 8c. These hardenend swimmers are in danger of going soft with such mild early season conditions so lets hope that mother nature shortly arrives on the scene to remind them what it is like to have no feeling in their extremities after a real winter swim! Easy for one to write such a flippant comment from the safety of a warm office but really, enough warming up it is time for the freezing to begin!
Zaoral (blue cap) & Cech (submerged) both off to flyer in the 1000m
The winter weather may have been lacking but of course,as always, the atmosphere was charged and buoyant. The course was a well prepared square shape of 250m with 3 turn buoys which would provide an exciting spectacle for the audience. The 1000m was no dissapointment as it saw the reigning champion David Cech of University Brno make his first appearance of the season. The vastly experienced (but still only 25) channel swimmer Cech has dominated winter swimming for 6 years and looked ready continue where he left off as he got a flying start. However, he wasn’t the only one and in a sprint to the first turn buoy it was Vlastimil Zaoral (junior) of Spartak Prerov who had grabbed the initiative all be it by a narrow margin. Cech wasn’t far behind but on this tight course it was a decisive enough advantage as the turn buoys came in close succession. These two ploughed on with a short gap back to Miroslav Nezhyba also of Spartak Prerov and Jaromir Svestka of University Olomouc. By the finish little had changed and Zaoral was the winner in 17m 50, 22 seconds in front of Cech with just another 11 seconds back to Nezhyba who took third for the second week running. It was a first victory of the season for the ultra consitent Zaoral who took a notable scalp in Cech, maybe now he can push on to take the title that this season is looking increasingly open. Back in the midfield many swimmers complained that they could smell petrol for the final circuit and though Zaoral moved through the water like a speedboat I didn’t think he was using an engine!
Only one female took on the 100m challenge and that was Magadalena Zubarova of SK Nachod who beat several men to finish in under 20 minutes. The 750m was a different story with 11 of the 37 starters from the fairer (but no less hardier) sex. In fact it was simply a case of the faster sex as the girls filled the first three places. Denisa Haltmarova of PK Zabreh had been in scintillating early season form but this time she had no answer to the speed of another youngster – Aneta Lokajova of Kometa Brno who sped to the finish line in 11m 52 and was possibly the cause of the aroma of petrol again reported by those toiling in the wake of the leaders! It was just over one minute back to Haltmarova in second and another female, the veteran (at least comapred to the two teenagers in front) Lenka Pacakova of Fides Brno comfortably claimed third place ahead of Vlastimil Zaoral (senior) of Spartak Prerov and a quartet of Poles and Czechs from SK Nachod. Back in the field there was one disquialification for missing the last buoy and another unfortunate swimmer failed to complete the course within the time limit of 22 minutes. However, as much as competition is important, not everyone can win and the enjoyment gained from the combination of fresh air and open water is enough for many people.
Afterwards the pub was full of contented winter swimmers, enjoying the excellent goulash, so excellent in fact that one portion wasn’t enough. Talk of weather and waters to come was the dessert of choice and that seems to have been served this week as tempereatures have plummeted to below freezing and with the coming of the first advent weekend we could have the first winter water.
The short run from the final turn to the finish
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