Hundreds take part in ice swimming in Vltava River

More than 360 people took part in the annual Polar Bear Dip in the Vltava River near Prague’s National Theatre. The oldest swimmer was Blanka Vyskočilová, eighty-five years old, the youngest was Kateřina Rejzková, just thirteen years of age. Hundreds of people came to watch the swimmers and cheer them on in the 750, 300 and 100 metre races. The temperature of the water was 4.3 degrees Celsius, the temperature of the air was -3.5 degrees.

The tradition of winter swimming was established in 1923 by Prague hardy-man Alfréd Nikodém who propagated a healthy lifestyle.