Sometimes in sport puzzling things happen. Cricket is a good example where a match can be decided by “the duckworth-lewis method” if rain interrupts play. To a lesser extent in football a team leading by 2 goals in the second leg of a cup competition may resort to extreme defensive tactics to preserve their lead. A more abstract yet common example would be snooker where players avoid easy pots opting for ”safety” in a long term strategy.
By now you are probably asking yourselves what has this got to do with extreme winter swimming? The answer is not a great deal directly, but it is good to think about the mindset of sportspeople which will help to understand why at Prerov only 5 swimmers entered the 1000m, leaving 60 to battle out the 750m (which became the main event) and a further 31 contending the shorter distances. Usually the longest distance attracts the highest number of entries and awards the most points to the finishers. But on this occasion with the water above 8c, the extra points on offer for the 1000m was not enough and most opted for the shorter option and with such a large amount if swimmers it was the 750m that was worth most in terms of ponts. A dissapointing but legitamite tactical decision by winter swimmers motivated by points and the chance to reach the highest position in the ongoing cup competition.
The highly competitive 750m was won by Zdenka Krcalova of 1.PKO who needed just 9m46s to get home. She was followed by Petr Tomasek also of 1.PKO and then it was another female, Iveta Novakova of SCPAP who took third place in 11m7s. Of the top 6 finishers, 4 were female, again showing the fairer sex’s aptitude for endurance in cold water water swimming. Maybe women are more capable in the cold or maybe it’s just coincidence? Fact and figures can always be misleading but it seems that more of the younger, faster, female open water swimmers are taking up the challenge of winter swimming in greater numbers their male counterparts.
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