Central Europe has experienced a mixed summer and autumn followed by an Indian summer, albeit a brief one in mid Novemeber and then the sudden onset of winter on the last day of November. Advent and the month of December was completely frozen with large amounts of snow, heavy frosts and temperatures continually below -5c even in the cities and some areas reacing a low of -25c. Fans of winter sports were happy and once again cross country skiing was possible even in the concrete jungle of city housing estates.
The effect of this on the winter swimming season has been varied. In early December the much looked forward to contest in Plzen was cancelled. Ice was the cause, there was no safe way of cutting a large enough pool from the thin ice. If it had been thicker then work would have been easier. Ice again caused a huge (but totally different) problem at the end of December as the Shengen swim from Austria to the Czech Republic was cancelled. Watch the excellent video4net s.r.o. film below, the reason behind the ice problem and the cancellation is very well explained by the organiser Milan Vojta. Cold water swimming was possible of course throughout December in a variety of places and two rounds of the 2010/11 Czech cup for winter swimming went ahead in Chocen and Prague with excellent winter conditions and icy water.
Now mid January approaches and ussually this would mean heavy frosts and the possibilty of the previously mentioned -25c. However, after a harsh December, January has warmed up and incredibly temperatures could hit a high of 10c this weekend. In 10 days there has been an increase of between 8c and 15c which has led to a thaw and the inevitable problems of high water levels and the possibility of floods. River swimming has in the last week become akin to riding a toboggan or white water rafting as rivers flow ever more speedily under the weight of so much excess water. In some places Ice has still caused problems (again different!) with large chunks breaking, flowing downstream and then joining together to form natural dams in rivers causing flooding. The power of nature is stronger than anything and water is an example of this. When water freezes it obviously takes on completely different properties and can cause a myriad of problems with more to follow during and after the thaw. Winter has surely just taken a break and no doubt will be back before the end of January so we may be able to experience this rollercoaster ride again in the current season.
The film below was made by video4net s.r.o. You can also follow our film project here.
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