10 MP 2022 (Mistrzostwa Polski w pływaniu na wodach otwartych)

The event is the Mistrzostwa Polski w pływaniu na wodach otwartych, Poland's national open water swimming championship held in the lake waters of Wąbrzeźno, located in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. Organized by the Polski Związek Pływacki, the competition brings together distance swimmers from across the country to compete in the calm inland waters of the town. The championship program focuses strictly on marathon swimming, featuring races over distances of 5,000, 7,500, and 10,000 meters. Held during the warmth of mid-summer in late July, these challenging courses test the limits of pace, stroke efficiency, and stamina. Setting off in waves from the shoreline, competitors quickly string out across the lake, reading the surface swells, drafting in tight packs, and calculating each turn around the marker buoys.

For swimmers logging 10,000 meters, hours in the water demand relentless concentration as the lake opens up around them. Beyond the intense competition on the water, the event integrates with the cultural rhythm of the host town. After crossing the finish line and stepping onto dry land, athletes and visiting spectators gather at the amphitheater situated on the banks of Lake Zamkowe. Here, open-air concerts provide a festive evening gathering place right on the water's edge, allowing competitors to unwind, trade race stories, and enjoy the lakeside atmosphere after a grueling day of racing.

Jezioro Zamkowe: depth, reed beds, and fish life

Lake Zamkowe takes its name directly from the ruined stronghold, offering an expansive basin with a shoreline measuring 6,500 meters in length. For open water swimmers, the lake presents an intriguing underwater profile that varies across each lap. While the shallows gently slope from the grassy banks, the basin reaches an average depth of 5.9 meters and plummets to a maximum depth of 18.0 meters in its deepest section. Swimming over these cooler, shadowy depths, racers experience the clear, undisturbed expanse of a classic Polish lowland lake. The aquatic ecology along the perimeter of Lake Zamkowe is rich and diverse. The lake basin contains thirteen and a half hectares of aquatic flora, divided between six hectares of submerged vegetation flourishing beneath the surface and seven and a half hectares of emergent reeds standing along the margins.

Beneath the surface, the lake supports a thriving aquatic population consisting of sixteen distinct species of fish. Sighting along the course, the interplay of deep waters, lush reed lines, and active aquatic life gives the lake a wild yet accessible natural character.

The 2022 championships on Lake Zamkowe: loop, field and stakes

The 10th Polish Open Water Long-Distance Championships were scheduled for 23-24 July on Lake Zamkowe in Wąbrzeźno. They were the most important stage of the Grand Prix of Poland series, which consisted of three events, in Rajgród, Dąbrowa Górnicza and Wąbrzeźno. The course on Lake Zamkowe was to be a 1,250 m loop marked by buoys. The field was set at 100 competitors, described as the most talented swimmers in Poland. According to the mayor, it was the first time in the history of Wąbrzeźno that the town hosted a sports event of such importance. The mayor also said that the hotels of Wąbrzeźno were already fully booked for the weekend of the championships.

The Gothic castle of the Chełmno bishops on the shore

Dominating the shoreline within less than a kilometer of the race area stands the historic ruin of Zamek w Wąbrzeźnie. The castle was erected in the Gothic style before 1321 on the orders of Herman von Prizna, the Bishop of Chełmno. Built in the northwestern corner of Wąbrzeźno, this episcopal fortress served as the official administrative seat and residence of the Chełmno bishops for centuries, remaining in their hands until 1773. The stronghold was a formidable complex directly guarding the water's edge. Its core high castle formed a compact square measuring 36 by 37 meters, defended by a spacious outer bailey that spanned approximately 70 by 100 meters. Because of its strategic position, the castle suffered repeated assaults, sustaining significant damage during the Polish-Teutonic wars in the 15th century.

Despite repairs, its fate was sealed after 1655, when fire ravaged the structure and left it in lasting ruin. The remains of the castle were dismantled further in 1792, when King Frederick William II of Prussia authorized the demolition of the masonry to provide stone and brick for the expanding town. Today, the surviving fragments are an evocative lakeside monument. Archaeological excavations were carried out between 2010 and 2011.

Grodzisko: the early medieval ramparts between the lakes

Grodzisko w Wąbrzeźnie is an early medieval fortified settlement located on the southern shore of Lake Zamkowe. The stronghold sits strategically on the isthmus that separates Lake Zamkowe from Lake Frydek. This archaeological site covers approximately half a hectare and retains an impressive earthen rampart fragment that still stands 5 meters high and stretches for 60 meters across the neck of land. The settlement has deep roots in the region's history, showing evidence of habitation across four distinct archaeological phases beginning as early as the 7th or 8th century. In 1246, the Teutonic Order formally transferred control of the stronghold to the bishops of Chełmno. The site was not spared from regional violence, however; during the final Prussian uprising in the 1270s, both the fortified settlement and its surrounding suburb were captured and burned to the ground.

Centuries later, during the Swedish Deluge of 1655, the elevated earthworks found a new military purpose. Swedish artillery regiments placed cannons directly upon the ancient ramparts, exploiting the high vantage point of the isthmus to bombard the bishop's Gothic castle located on the lake shore.

The waters of Wąbrzeźno: Lake Frydek and Lake Sicieńskie

The town of Wąbrzeźno has always been intimately shaped by its surrounding lakes. As early as the beginning of the 13th century, an important commercial trade route was established running across the narrow land corridor between Lake Sicieńskie and Lake Zamkowe. Frydek is located in the Chełmińskie Lake District. The water surface of Frydek rests at 94.7 meters above sea level, reaching an average depth of 7.2 meters and descending to a remarkable maximum depth of 24.0 meters, with an early medieval stronghold preserved on its northern shore. Jezioro Sicieńskie is situated in the Chełmińskie Lake District. Sicieńskie sits at an elevation of 95.7 meters above sea level and covers an area between 48.3 and 51.0 hectares.

It exhibits an elongated shape aligned along a north-south axis, with its southern reach cutting directly into the urban fabric of Wąbrzeźno. There, nestled in the southern part of the lake among the town buildings, sits a small picturesque island that adds character to the town's aquatic perimeter. The wider countryside around Wąbrzeźno is dotted with additional freshwater basins that define this corner of northern Poland. In the Chełmno Lake District lies Jezioro Wieldządzkie, covering 43.5 hectares of surface area at an altitude of 98.5 meters above sea level, with waters reaching a maximum depth of 13.0 meters. Jezioro Płużnickie covers 43.4 hectares at an elevation of 90.4 meters above sea level.

Płużnickie is shallow, with an average depth of only 1.0 meter and a maximum depth of 1.7 meters. Its water quality has seen notable environmental recovery over the decades, rising from an out-of-class rating in 1994 to a second-class purity classification in 2005. Rounding out the local network of waters is Lake Wieczno, an expansive body of water sitting at an altitude of 91 meters above sea level with a total surface area of 347 hectares. Stretched over a length of 3.6 kilometers and spanning up to 1.7 kilometers at its widest point, Wieczno reaches a maximum depth of 18.3 meters. Peninsulas extending from opposing shores divide the lake into Northern Wieczno and Southern Wieczno, while its perimeter is marked by low, forested banks surrounded by dense reeds.