CZECH REPUBLIC: A 93-year-old was one of a number of hardened swimmers braving the freezing Vltava river on Boxing Day.

Prague's 60th Boxing Day swimming event, the Alfred Nikodem Memorial, took place as usual in the Vltava River near the Czech National Theatre on Tuesday (December 26). Around 100 hardened participants from the Czech Republic and abroad took part in the annual swim, while thousands of spectators watched from the relative comfort of the embankment dressed in thick winter clothes. The yearly swim was founded by Prague goldsmith Alfred Nikodem who swam across the Vlatava River in 1918, but it did not became an annual national event until 1947. The Alfred Nikodem Memorial is organised by the 1st Prague Hardened Swimmers Club and this year saw 95 men and 24 women take part, including successful Czech Channel swimmers Yvetta Hlavacova, David Cech and Petr Mihola. The temperature of the water was a chilly 6.3 Celsius. Cech finished first in the 750 metre long race, but described the competition as "just a pleasant meeting with people." The eldest competitor was 93-year-old Lada Micek, from Olomouc town, who competed for the 57th year. Micek, who remembers Alfred Nikodem competing, said he was disappointed that there were not more participants this year. "It's a pity not many people are joining us and hardening their bodies. They should take some time for the hardening procedures," he said.

ITN Source | December 28, 2006

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