On 18 March 2023, you can experience something new in Frýdek-Místek — and something most of you will never have tried anywhere. A proper winter Cold-Water Duathlon: a race combining outdoor river swimming in winter with running on the bank.
Every Saturday throughout the winter, I am at U Žida for anyone who wants to start swimming in cold river water. Whether you are 9 or 90, come along: turning up is the hardest part. I will help you through those difficult first steps, but keeping it up is down to you.
On 5 January 2023, I had the chance to talk about cold-water swimming on Czech Television's Dobré ráno programme, so I did. The background photographs show our group swims at U Žida, and many of you will recognise yourselves.
More than 100 cold-water swimmers gathered at U Žida on Christmas Eve morning. The weather really was on our side: melting snow, slush, murky water and a strong current… well, that is how a softie might describe it. We decided it was beautiful, and beautiful it was. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, friends.
The first snow of the year is always a big occasion, for cold-water swimmers as well as children. This season it arrived today, Saturday 10 December 2022. It was not knee-deep, but it was snow all the same.
For the third year running, we launched the North Moravian leg of Nebuď srab! Namoč se pro ranou péči — Take the plunge for early intervention with a group swim by the weir at U Žida. The campaign supports families raising children with disabilities and the early intervention services they rely on.
The first ice-water swim is always a big occasion. For anyone unfamiliar with the terminology, in winter swimming ‘ice water’ means water at 4°C or below. This time it fell on Saturday 19 November. The weather was glorious, and we took our first group photo in quite a while.
First, a few words of introduction. I had been thinking about writing this for several years. I discussed every topic with many experienced cold-water swimmers, including people who pass on the myths below with the best of intentions. We often found that something is repeated out of a kind of precaution: ‘Ota, if you say jumping into icy water is OK, someone will miss the part where you say it is not for beginners, jump in and hurt themselves.’
Vojta Vajdiss’s photos speak louder than words. Here is what our swims looked like during an exceptionally sunny October. We have been turning out in force, having a great time, and newcomers can start any week — on a Saturday.
Our new fellow swimmer Vojtěch Vajda (www.vojtechvajda.cz) brought a drone and a camera to the season opening and captured some lovely footage. Here is the result. Thank you! We look forward to something similar with ice and snow.
