These Czech Seniors Stay Young by Plunging Into Freezing Cold Rivers

4 minute read

An unsuspecting passerby may be greeted with a rather bizarre sight when they pass by the Czech Republic‘s Labe River during the height of winter. Despite temperatures dropping below freezing, they’re likely to witness a group of senior citizens plunging into the chilly depths of the icy waterway – out of choice.

For nearly a century, cold water swimming has been a great tradition in the eastern European country. The custom dates back to Christmas Day 1923, when Alfréd Nikodém, a Prague goldsmith and sportsman first swam in the Vltava, the Czech Republic’s longest river. The sport caught on and still today Czechs brave the cold of the Vltava for an annual Boxing Day dip.

Among the most hardy of all the cold water swimmers is the group of pensioners who meet twice a week, whatever the weather, throughout the year in an old railway wagon at the bank of the Labe River in Pardubice, near a section of the river where the water is less than 20 meters deep.

The OAP swimming club then ease their way into the glacial stream and swim about 250 meters, often surrounded by blocks of ice. After their freezing feat they’ll run several hundreds meters and roll in the snow if there is any, then finally go inside the wagon to warm up by a pre-heated stove.

For these senior citizens, some of whom are in their late eighties, plunging into freezing temperatures has its benefits. “Cold water swimming is as much a challenge as it is a health strategy,” Radek Kalhous, a photographer who has been capturing candid images of the swimmers, told TIME. “It improves heart activity, vessel elasticity and the immune system in general.”

According to Kalhouse, the pensioners who swim in the Labe are hardly ever ill. “They are brimming with energy and optimism,” he said. “Local clubs are full of friends and the community is still growing. Cold water swimming is not just sport for them. It’s their lifestyle.”

Indeed, 75-year-old Jitka Tauferova, who founded the club 25 years ago, says she has not fallen ill during the time she’s been cold water swimming. “The last time I had flu was 25 years ago,” she told TIME. “[My] back pain disappeared. Better blood circulation improves healing broken bones and my heart is like a hammer. I feel great.”

Tauferova said people who try out cold water swimming are instantly hooked. “The story is always the same,” she explained. “They start in summer and continue until fall and winter, gradually hardening to the cold. Then their dream – to swim in a river in winter – comes true, but they never stop. They become winter swimmers forever.”

As well as photographing the pensioners, Kalhous has been studying the Czech Republic’s roughly 20 cold water swimming competitions. The competitions take place almost every weekend from October to March – the coldest months. According to Kalhous, there are usually five distance categories: 100, 250, 500, 750 and 1,000m.

“The oldest ones swim the shortest distance,” said Kalhous. “If you decide to swim 1,000m, the rules say you can only participate for 22 minutes to protect you from health problems due to hypothermia.” Occasionally, swimmers compete within just a small hole cut into ice.

But most cold water swimmers are not in it for the competition. “The fact that they were able to swim any distance in freezing water is the biggest reward for them,” said Kalhous. “They do it for health, joy and friendship.”

Radek Kalhous is a photographer based in Prague

Kira Pollack, who edited this photo essay is the Director of Photography and Visual Enterprise at TIME

Kate Samuelson is a TIME reporter based in London

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A cold water swimmer in the Orlice River, in the Czech Republic, on Jan. 28 2017.Radek Kalhous / MAFRA
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A cold water swimmer swims laps in a small section of the Orlice River, in the Czech Republic, on Jan. 28 2017.Radek Kalhous / MAFRA
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Pardubice cold water swimmers, pictured on Jan. 2 2017, often finish their meet ups by rolling in the snow. Radek Kalhous / MAFRA
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Every Wednesday, a group of cold water swimmers, pictured on Feb. 1 2017, train in Pardubice. Radek Kalhous / MAFRA
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A group of swimmers take part in a Boxing Day swim in the Vltava River in Prague on Dec. 26 2016.Radek Kalhous / MAFRA
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A cold water swimmer in a pond in Náchod, in the Czech Republic, on Jan. 14 2017.Radek Kalhous / MAFRA
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A cold water swimmer has a quick splash around before an official competition begins in Sázava, in the Czech Republic, on Feb. 18 2017.Radek Kalhous / MAFRA
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A swimmer takes part in a Boxing Day cold water swim in Prague's Vltava River on Dec. 26 2016. Radek Kalhous / MAFRA
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A small pool was cut into 20cm of ice in Sázava, in the Czech Republic, on Feb. 18 2017. Radek Kalhous / MAFRA
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Hundreds of cold water swimmers participate in a Boxing Day swim in the Vltava River in Prague on Dec. 26 2016. Radek Kalhous / MAFRA
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A cold water swimming competition in Pardubice on Jan. 7 2017 saw extreme frost, with an outside temperature of -12°C and water that was almost below freezing level, despite the large stream in the river.Radek Kalhous / MAFRA
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A swimmer in a small pond in Sázava, in the Czech Republic, on Feb. 18 2017.Radek Kalhous / MAFRA
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Blankets like this one, pictured on Feb. 18 2017 by a pond in Sázava, in the Czech Republic, prevent cold water swimmers from slipping on slippery ice.Radek Kalhous / MAFRA
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A swimmer towels down his hair by the Vltava River in Prague on Feb. 20 2017.Radek Kalhous / MAFRA
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A group of senior cold water swimmers stand by the Orlice River on Oct. 10 2016.Radek Kalhous / MAFRA
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Backstroke is often more comfortable for some cold water swimmers. This one is pictured in the Orlice River on Dec. 10 2016.Radek Kalhous / MAFRA
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Swimmers prepare themselves for the cold water of the Labe River on Dec. 17 2016.Radek Kalhous / MAFRA
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A swimmer in a pond in Náchod, in the Czech Republic, on Jan. 14 2017.Radek Kalhous / MAFRA
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A man swims under a bridge over the Labe River in the Hradec Králové region. Radek Kalhous / MAFRA
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A swimmer in the Labe River on Dec. 17 2016. Some competitions ensure swimmers take to the water accompanied with a rescue buoy.Radek Kalhous / MAFRA
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A swimmer in the Vltava River in Prague on Dec. 26 2016. Each year, hundreds of swimmers take part in a Boxing Day cold water swimming event in the Vltava.Radek Kalhous / MAFRA
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A swimmer braces the cold in a frozen pond in Náchod, in the Czech Republic, on Jan. 14 2017. Radek Kalhous / MAFRA
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A swimmer holds a plastic bag containing clothes in his hand after completing a race in the Labe River on Dec. 17 2016. Radek Kalhous / MAFRA
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Swimmers take part in a warm up before getting into the river on Feb. 22 2017. Radek Kalhous / MAFRA

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Write to Kate Samuelson at kate.samuelson@time.com