Filip Jícha sen.
Czech winter swimmer, adventurer, and promoter of extreme swimming in icy waters. He is deeply involved in expeditions across Arctic and polar regions and serves as an organizer, community leader, and motivational figure among cold-water swimmers. He is also the chairman of the Czech section of the International Ice Swimming Association (IISA Czech). He became known in the media as the first Czech to swim a competitive distance in extreme temperatures beyond the Arctic Circle. He completed a 1 km swim in water at –1 °C and air at –16 °C in Svalbard, later repeating a similar achievement in Antarctica. He is the first Czech to have officially completed a measured 1 km swim in both the Arctic and Antarctica.
In February 2024, he achieved the first crossing of the Beagle Channel between Chile and Argentina (1.6 km, water temperature 7 °C, time 37:14). Together with his family, he was entered into the Czech Book of Records as the first Czech family of swimmers to have completed official, measured swims on both poles.
