(no swimming) Pavel Trebichavsky tries to uphold the law with little success!
Almost 2 months of incredibly warm weather and the winter swimming season seems long gone even if some larger rivers are resiliantly holding temperatures of around 14c here in central Europe.
Back on Saturday the 9th of April we saw the finale of Czech winter swimming 2010/11, as usual at Nova Paka in the foothills of the Krkonose mountains. A former quarry lined with red clay was the exact location and even though it had been spring like for a few weeks there were the odd patches of snow clinging on in the surrounding forest. The wind was blowing quite strongly but even so for seasomed winter swimmers this was barely noticeable. However, the wind would prove more testing to the swimmers once in the water as small waves appeared.
The 750m made for a nice spectacle as it was twice round a 375 rectangular course. The first turn came after just 100m and in heat 1 of the 750m a pile up ensued as the tight turn was navigated.
Quite a hot contest with the 10c water attracting some long distance swimmers who stay in the 27c pool for most of the winter season.
Petr Svorcik battling in the 750m
Although the climax of the season, there actually wasn’t much drama as the winners had already been decide the previous week. The club Fides Brno taking the team prize for the 9th year running, although they might have a fight to make it 10 as an active transfer market has sprung up in an effort to break their stranglehold on the Cesky Pohar (Czech cup for winter swimming).
It is now June and although the summer long distance season is just starting, actually there will be more to come on the subject of winter swimming. So watch out for the next blog post which will contan so interesting news for lovers of cold water swimming, nature, travel and adventure.
Another spring Saturday lunchtime and another overcast sky. The weather tried to be kind to the winter swimmers and was as wretched as possible for the duration of the competition, before reverting to sunshine later on. However, it was enough to sufficiently cool the water and the shallow pond was up to 9.5c, warm enough for those who prefer sub 4c, but still the 1km would present enough of a challenge.
As always at this venue the course was a 250m square shape with four turns. Such a tight course inevitably leads to slow times due to the difficulty of changing the direction of swimming by 180 degrees 4 times per circuit. This was enough to convince a few swimmers to opt for the 750m with no danger of missing the 22min time limit.
Just 17 starters in the 1000m, four of whom were women and three of them filled the first three places. Predictably, Aneta Lokajova (Kometa Brno) won the race to first turn buoy and from there on she gradually extended her lead to reach the finish in a time of 15m inutes exactly. After a long battle around the 4 circuits the experienced long distance swimmer Lenka Pacakova (Fides Brno) took second place in 16mins 44secs, holding off Denisa Haltmarova (PK Zabreh) by just 2 seconds. It was almost another 30 seconds before one of the men finished and that was Vlastimil Zaoral Junior (1.PKO). Englishman Jack Bright put in a sprint to make the limit by just 1 second, with only 1 swimmer behind, failing to reach the finish by the cut off time. After a remark that he was lucky today Bright decided to play the Czech lottery and promptly lost without getting a number. However he was satisfied enough as this proved that making the limit was down to his determination rather than luck.
The 750m was a different story with 24 swimmers and at the finish not a woman in sight until 14th place. Vladimir Hrbata (Fides Brno) got home first in 13min 35 sec with Tomas Kocanek (KSO Plzen) just 3 seconds behind and rueing a problem with his goggles that may have cost him victory. A notable performance came from Jiri Kurina back in fourth, using crawl more often than usual and clearly relishing the prospect of another summer of marathon swimming.
The pleasant atmosphere was savoured in the pub aftrewards in the knowledge that another seaon was almost over.
After almost 18 months the 30 minute documentary film “Winter swimming” is in the final stages of post production. Here is sneak preview of the film.
Winter swimming should be showing in festivals by the autumn, (coinciding with the start of the new season). Limited edition DVD’s will shortly be available for those who contributed to the project and you can still donate money now through the paypal link here on this site.
Keep up with the news on this site and you can also become fan on facebook here.
Marathon swimmer Jiri Kurina (far right), first home in the 2nd heat 750m
The forecast was for rain but after almost one week of spring the water temperature was a positively spring like 7.5c.
68 winter swimmers gathered at the silver pond on the outskirts of Opava in the Silesian district of the Czech Republic.
Organised by the Cech family this is a celebration of successful Czech (& Slovak) channel swimmers as well as a competition. This year, apart from organiser David Cech (solo & 2 way crossing), 3 other successful swimmers were present – Petr Mihola, , Josef Lendacky and Dana Zborilova. No doubt there were another dozen aspirants within the participants, including Pavel Trebichavsky who has already booked his pilot for the 2012 season.
As the swimmers donned caps and goggles the clouds closed in and the sky darkened although it wasn’t enough to put off hardened winter swimmers who had spent around four months battling sub 4c water. 7.5c could be considered cool rather than cold and 750m certainly not an extreme distance.
With 40 swimmers entered for the 750m this meant 2 heats. As always the first heat contained the fastest swimmers and a return to the Czech cup of winter swimming for Aneta Lokajova of Kometa Brno who promptly took first place in just 9m 17s, holding of Denisa Haltmarova of PK Zabreh by over a minute. The Pole Artur Kubica representing SK Nachod just took third from another female, Lenka Pacakova (Fides Brno) in a battling finish.
With most of the 40 finshing in under 16 minutes there was no doubt that they could have done it all over again and still been in better condition than after a typical midwinter 750m, but rules are rules and that is what makes the Czech cup for winter swimming so entertaining – at the moment the maximum distance of any race in the series is 1000m.
On the penultimate day of winter (20th March) the much awaited contest took place at Plzen. rescheduled twice due to ice, once because it was too thin to walk on and therefore make a big enough course and the second time because the ice was at its thickest and again it wasn’t possible to make a large enough hole for the sporting contest. Ironically, at the time of the scond cancellation the air temperature had just risen dramatically yet after more than 3 months frozen it takes some time for the melting of the ice. Another lesson in how nature is firmly in charge, with us humans only able to influence but not control. Next year there is the possibility of switching the contest to a week or two earlier in order that it takes place when it should. This shouldn’t hinder winter swimming as in 2008 the Bolevecky pond was only 1.5c and the lake still wasn’t frozen.
Working hard in the chilly water
This year a further week of high air temperatures after the thaw raised the water temperature to a rather pleasant (at least for winter swimmers) 6.2c. Having said this the lack of points available in the Czech cup saw only7swimmers tackle the 1000m course with the channel swimmer Petr Mihola of Fides Brno leading from halfway to just take first place from club colleague Radomir Suchopa and local Tomas Kocanek of KPO Plzen. Then there was a short gap back to the Englishman Jack Bright, representing 1.PKO, who just held off 2 more local swimmers from KPO Plzen. These 6 all made it within the time limit of 22 minutes with the final swimmer of the seven just missing the cut off point.
A rather low key event this year, there were 4 more swims of 100, 250, 500, & 750m but although 6.2c water may be far too frigid even with a wetsuit for most people, for cold winter swimmming connoiseurs this is fresh spring like water. As the victor in the 100m Petr Mihola remarked to one member of the press “It really was very pleasant, we could have swum 2km without problems in this water.” Certainly true but don’t be misled, 6.2c is still chilly and there were still plenty of shivering bodies to be seen after exiting the water.
The air temperature began to drop and the harsh frosts set in as predictions for the following week were as low as -15. But at lunchtime on Saturday the 19th of February in Breclav near the Easterly border with Austria theair remained somewhere above zero and the water officially 2.6c. There was some debate as 1.6c was mentioned and this coupled with the excuse for cancelling the 1000m due to not having enough boats to transport swimmers to the start wa enough to make some winter swimmers think that a straighter system could be found in Libya or Yemen. However, commentary on current affairs is for another time and place – generally Czech Winter swimming stays untainted by political problems and long may it continue as the excellent organisation is one of a myriad of factors that helps make it so enjoyable.
Stroke for stroke in the 750m
With no 1000m race, the organisers were faced with the task of 71 starters for the 750m. In a flowing river it was decided to start in 6 waves at intervals of 2 minutes. With start numbers well marked on both the shoulders and back, and enough experienced adjudicators in place the race went smoothly. The results seemed to reflect this as the fastest swimmers milan Stencl and denisa Haltmarova of PK Zabreh took first and second place in less than 7 minutes. Satisfying results as in a fast flowing river, the velocity of water can make a not insignificant difference to a swimmers performance when there are several heats taking place one after another. In just oover 7 minutes were the pair from Fides Brno Jan Vane and Lenka Pacakova. All 71 swimmers cmpleted the course, the slowest in 10minutes 56seconds.
The contest is called the Breclav beaver and evidence of this water loving and industrious mammal could be seen by the bank with trees looking like they were ready to fall at any minute. The culprits were nowhere to be seen though a comparison was made to Bob Pacl of Prostejov and the aforementioned beaver, presumably due to Bob’s incredible tenacity and love for the winter water.
The 750m in full flow
Soon things came to a close and another potentially arduous contest had turned out to be tough and enjoyable but notas extreme as was anticipated. That has been this winter all over and the prospect of frost followed by thaw is continuing on into March. This winter has been mightily unpredictable but at least in central Europe we have been spared the onslaught mother nature has unleashed in the Pacific region. Oil runs modern life it seems and we can take this prescious commodity from the earth but we are not the boss as earthquakes and Tsunamis (& cold water) prove. Ironically the biggest problem in the east now involves a nuclear power station, pre empted by nature but actually man made.
If you haven’t already try cold water and connect with nature. Spring is a good time for novices to winter swimming as the water temperature rises. More on getting started with cold water swimming coming soon.
Finally a return to winter conditions in mid February and thus no disappointment and no place to hide as it was once again time for the Czech winter swimming championship. Held once again in Brno after huge amounts of ice caused the venue to be moved last year the water was 1.8c and still, whereas the air was 4c with a biting wind to remind everyone that it was only the second week of February. For the first time in weeks conditions allowed for a genuine, fair and somewhat difficult test of the winter swimmer, surely just what is needed when a championship is to be contested. The course was simple, just a line of buoys, swim to the end, turn and swim back to complete the 250m circuit. Swimming it 3 times in row was anything but simple. Just ask the swimmer who retired just after halfway, apparently exhausted having made nutritional mistakes pre race. It is worth mentioning that it is estimated thatswimming in winter water 4c and below takes energy from the body around 5 times faster than swimming in the average 27c pool. The amount of energy required is one thing and the speed with which it s used by the body is another, making winter swimming a unique experience. Eating carbohydrates 3 – 4 hours before swimming and something easier 1 hour before is recommended. While each individual knows their own body it certainly isn’t a good idea to attempt a difficult cold water swim on an empty stomach or if feeling tired or unwell.
As for the races themselves, most went to form and the best time of the day was predictably posted by Milan Stencl of PK Zabreh who became the new champion in the mens 18-39 category, covering the 750m in 11mins 51secs. But spare a thought for Matej Cerveny of 1.PKO in the same race who just covered the 750m inside the 22 minute time limit, almost giving in on the final circuit only to find reserves from somewhere to get to the finish line. It might have been a day of championship races but simply completing the course is the number one which is what makes winter swimming such an involving and enthralling sport.
Not far now, keep going, I can see the finish buoy
Yet more strange weather in the first week of February as the mercury rocketed in the latter part of the week to hit around 9c on Saturday lunchtime. The riverbank which was still carpeted with snow on Wednesday evening was reduced to a muddy, boggy mess.
Luckily the water at 2.8c was still on the cold side of freezing and just about right for winter swimming. This pleased most, not least the 3 visitors from Italy (Paolo Chirano, Alberto Salvi & Thomas Kofler) who on hearing about the conditions promptly declared that “this will be the coldest water he have ever swum in”. They were given a get out clause as they recieved their diplomas on registration and before they had seen the 500m course or opened thier kitbags let alone dipped a toe in the water!
Although these 3 were the first Italians to take part in a Czech winter swimming event and had a myriad of open water successes between them they were upstaged by none other than the 97 year old Dr Vladislav Nicek. Having taking taken no part in the current season he decided he would grace this event with his prescense and onlookers were not dissapointed as he fought with the current for a few minutes and even managed a few strokes of crawl before finding his way back to the bank unscathed. I can only say it is quite incredible to see him in action especially when you see how obviously frail he is.
Dr Ladislav Nicek - 98 later this year and still braving the 2.8c water
Notable participants aside there were distances of 100, 250, 500, 750 & 1000m with the latter 2 being sporting contests. (races) All eyes were on the 1000m as most of the best swimmers were to be found here amongst the 54 starters.
It was quite a sight as they got underway and a long lingering pelaton began to develop. Unsurprisingly it was the duo from PK Zabreh Milan Stencl & Denisa Haltmarova who were at the head of affairs although for the first 500m they had plenty of company as a group of some 15 swimmers tried to stay with them before breaking up into 3 more groups in second half of the race. In the end it was a great finish as Stencl just took first place by half a second in 10.14.5. It was then 26 seconds back to Vlastimil zaoral (junior) now of PKO who was closely followed by the second woman home Lenka Pacakova of Fides Brno. It was almost another 6 minutes before all 54 got home but they all finished and that is of course objective number one in winter swimming…. sorry its number two, number one is to survive. There is some humour in that but next week sees the championship races at Brno where the water will not only be colder than 2.8c but it will be still water without any aid from the current. These above mentioned objectives will really come into play and it is just a pity that there are another seven days to wait!
No turning back now for Kofler (left), Chiarino & Salvi
For the second year running wonderful winter weather welcomed the hardy swimmers to Chocen for the tradtional late January exhibition. Just like last year there was a clear sky and bright sunshine with no breeze and a pleasant air temperature a few degrees above zero. Again the water was just above freezing (0.8c) but unlike last year the river wasn’t frozen so there was no need for axes and lovers of (extremely) cold water were able to swim downstream for 100, 250 or 500m depending on their level of bravery. On this occasion the mention of bravery is attributed to the fact that swimming 500m would include a fairly treacherous walk back along an icy path littered with stones not to mention the negotiation of a rather idiosyncratic 500 metres down the Ticha Orlicka River.
Chocen is a small town situated in Eastern Bohemia under the Orlicke (Eagle) mountains. This was the 40th year of the January winter swimming event and you get the idea that little has changed. The metal sign that hangs on the bridge to advertise the event is probably also 40 years old and the local people are enthusisatic spectators every year.
A total of 61 winter swimmers set sail for the 500m with the aim of plotting a safe course round a bend, avoiding a weir and then under 2 bridges with just 50cm clearance above the water before finishing at a point where the river was flowing wildly. All navigated it safely yet there were a few scares minutes later as a large patch of ice was to be found near the changing rooms where clothes had been left. Luckily it seems winter swimmers have the balance of ballet dancers when on dry land and this rogue patch of ice failed to claim any victims. However, then the shaking began, accompanied by the "trying to get dressed after winter swimming dance" which certainly diodn't resemble ballet. Hot sweet liquids were consumed and after beer and gulas in the pub normality was soon resumed. Roll on next January and no doubt another interesting vist to Chocen
Well, more like a few sentences actually, see the video below and if you like what you see be sure to visit the project here
So if you want to help or if you haven’t seen the trailer for the film yet, or you want more information it is here on indiegogo where you can also be a part of the film, contribute and get some great perks in return.
