Martin Švec ticks Drift (8C)

Martin Švec, husband to Jana Svecova, who just did her second 8C FA, has completed Drift (8C) in Moravský kras. ”Such a mental battle, fell 15times from the top slab… finaly broke through The plateau and years of injuries.”

Can you tell us more about the process behind the ascent including the injury problems?
This might sound as a proper grind but it was actually a great multiyear experience for me with much bigger perspective than just sending 8C I started trying Drift late summer 2023. I got close during the winter, but then I ruptured my A2 pulley, along with some serious joint inflammation from a two-finger pocket undercut (but the FA that came out of it is one of the best Czech V12, “comp style SD”) . It took forever to recover. December 2024, I got to the last hard move… and then tore another A2 in January 2025. 2025 was probably the worst climbing year for both me and Jane. I had just one session on Drift that year. We were both out of the game for almost 6 months.

By the end of summer, I felt like I could climb a bit again, and for the first time I started working with a climbing coach. All the injuries I had basically came from overtraining, lack of rest, and not enough variety in my training. I got into the best shape of my life in like 4months. By the end of December, I was already stronger than ever. Inbetween trying other hard boulders I kept going through the training cycles, and by mid-March I got back on Drift. On my third session, I fell in the final 7B+ slab. And I thought, “Yeah, it’s easy, I’ll just cruise it next session.” And I already started thinking what is going to be the next project. But climbing never was about being just physically strong enough. It turned into a crazy mental battle 😁 I underestimated the mantle, and it gave me a proper lesson 😁

In the end it took me 9 sessions this year (close to 40 in total) and about 15 falls from the final mantle 🙏 I’m actually glad it went this way — it means much more to me now than if I had sent it in the 3rd or 4th session