Historic swim from the Czech Republic to Austria

The Dyje river complete with iceburgs

Sunday the 19th of December 2010 was the second year of the historic swim from the Czech Republic to Austria. The reason for such an event was twofold. – On the one hand to celebrate the Shengen agreement allowing freedom of movement and on the other hand to commemorate those daring individuals who used the river Dyje as a means of escape from the communist regime pre 1989. 37 winter swimmers were prepared to tackle courses from 250m up to 1km. The only border guards to be seen were actors who assisted in the re-enactment of an escape before the main event begun, so the atmosphere was festive and upbeat with the swimmers looking forward to the 1c river with the air temperature around -10c. However, on this occasion it was mother nature that intervened and not the secret police. After heavy frosts overnight the Dyje river went from being completely ice free to a replica of the north pole with huge iceburgs rushing down the river at an incredible speed. After much deliberation the wise but unfortunate decision was taken to cancel the swimming exhibition. You can see from the photographs how much ice there was but what they don’t convey is just how fast the river was flowing and the cancellation was fully justified. Nevertheless the participants donned their swimming costumes as the event carried on in a slightly different way. The oldest participant Bob Pacl (70) was asked to place a wreath in the river and he was then allowed to swim a symbloic 50 metres downstream while attached to a rope. He made it back to the bank with just a few grazes from the fast flowing iceburgs and the blood was a poignant reminder of the past when blood was shed in this area for reasons more sinister than swimming amongst iceburgs. On a lighter note the border was crossed (on foot) by the participants and a mass snowball fight followed, of course in swimming costumes which was quite a sight for the onlookers. So, things came to a close with little swimming action but below is an excellent film depicting last years event. The film was produced by video4net s.r.o.

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