A picture is worth a thousand words, so I will keep this brief. Today, 4 October 2025, another excellent turnout marked the start of our seventh season of winter swimming together in Frýdek-Místek.
Hello, fellow lovers of icy water! Here is your official notice: our season of winter swimming together at U Žida begins again at 9 am on Saturday 4 October 2025.
After six months of winter swimming together, we joined our friends from Beskydský ledoborec in Frýdlant nad Ostravicí to say goodbye: to the river, the weir and one another. Of course, we still see each other during the summer, but without the organised, regular meet-ups.
Our traditional end-of-season gathering for cold-water and winter swimmers takes place from 9 am on Saturday 29 March 2025. It is a joint event for the groups from Frýdek-Místek and Frýdlant nad Ostravicí.
On Thursday 26 December 2024, Prague's Vltava River beside Slovanský Island will host the 78th Alfred Nikodém Memorial, a celebration for winter swimmers. The race is organised by I. plavecký klub otužilců Praha.
Our second month of winter swimming together at U Žida in Frýdek-Místek is drawing to a close. The river temperature has been falling slowly but steadily. Today, after the snowfall, it dropped below 4°C — the point at which we cold-water swimmers call it “icy”.
Despite complications with the flood clean-up, less-than-ideal weather and water that could have been clearer, we began our sixth season of winter swimming together at U Žida on the first Saturday in October, as planned.
The severe floods in mid-September caused widespread damage. Unfortunately, U Žida weir, where we meet for winter swimming, was not spared. Thankfully, repair work is already under way as I write this on 29 September. It mainly involves dredging and removing stones that have completely filled parts of the river channel. There is a good chance the site will be ready for the start of the new season, allowing us to swim safely at “our” weir throughout the winter.
