High divers make the leap within the Seine in a brand new take a look at of Paris’ reclaimed river

PARIS — Paris is staging its first high-diving competitors within the Seine, with athletes launching themselves from a 20-meter platform in entrance of the Eiffel Tower — a spectacular new take a look at of the town’s effort to reclaim its river for sport.

The occasion on the Bir-Hakeim Bridge has additionally uncovered the fragility of that ambition: Organizers suspended coaching Thursday when traces of hydrocarbons had been detected upstream. By Friday, the French Swimming Federation stated the affected space had been handled, permitting athletes to return to the water and the occasion to proceed as deliberate.

High diving concludes Saturday with the ultimate two rounds and medal occasions, whereas the broader European Aquatics Championships run by way of Aug. 16.

“There are things that are within our control, and there are uncertainties that are inevitably linked to any outdoor activity,” stated Maxime Sauvage, Paris deputy mayor accountable for sports activities, sports activities services and equal entry to sport.

Among the issues inside the metropolis’s management, he stated, are the huge investments made earlier than the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games to make the river protected for swimming, from work to forestall sewage from flowing instantly into the Seine to enhancements in stormwater administration.

“There is always a small risk, but that is also part of what makes outdoor events special,” Sauvage stated. “When they work, it is magical.”

Hundreds of individuals gathered alongside the riverbanks Friday to look at the divers. Some stopped throughout their lunch break, whereas others stumbled throughout the competitors by probability.

Among them was Rebecca Kapogiannis, a 45-year-old customer from London, Ontario, who was visiting Paris together with her daughter to rejoice her commencement. Her daughter had even packed a showering go well with in case she obtained the possibility to swim within the Seine.

“We just headed down to the (Eiffel) Tower today and thought we would walk along the Seine and stumbled upon this and thought it was a really cool activity to watch,” she instructed The Associated Press.

“I was not expecting a competition to take place in the Seine, but I think it’s such a cool use of this water that runs right through the city.”

For Cynthia Matz, who was visiting Paris together with her husband, Sean, the setting itself was a part of the draw. She stated they most likely wouldn’t have sought out the competitors had it been held inside an aquatics middle.

“Anybody can go. I don’t have to know anything about diving. I can just say, ‘This is really cool to see,’” Matz stated.

“Having it out in public, people will just stop and go, ‘Huh, what’s going on?’ and stop and spend some time and enjoy it.”

That potential to stumble throughout elite sport in the midst of the town displays a broader transformation Paris officers have been pushing for years: turning the Seine from a river related largely with commerce, transport and tourism into a spot the place folks also can swim, play and compete.

The thirty eighth European Aquatics Championships, from July 31 to Aug. 16, mark the centenary of the inaugural championships, held in Budapest in 1926. For Paris, they’re a return of one other sort: The French capital final hosted the occasion in 1931.

More than 1,000 athletes are competing throughout 5 disciplines: swimming, diving, creative swimming, open-water swimming and excessive diving.

The Seine is internet hosting each open-water swimming and excessive diving, putting the river again on the middle of a serious worldwide sporting occasion two years after the Paris Olympics.

Swimming within the Seine was formally banned in 1923 amid air pollution and the risks of river site visitors. Public swimming returned solely in 2025, after Paris and its companions mobilized 1.4 billion euros to make the river swimmable, an effort accelerated by the Olympics.

For many French folks, former President Jacques Chirac’s 1988 pledge, when he was mayor of Paris, to make the Seine clear sufficient for swimming once more appeared like a distant dream.

But because the 2024 Olympics, photographs of athletes competing — and now residents swimming — within the river have develop into virtually acquainted.

Around 70,000 folks used the town’s designated Seine swimming areas in July, in response to Paris City Hall, in contrast with almost 100,000 throughout the whole summer season final 12 months, suggesting rising public curiosity in reclaiming the river for recreation.

Bringing sport into day by day Parisian life has been an goal throughout successive metropolis administrations. Under Emmanuel Grégoire, elected mayor in March, Sauvage stated the mission is to “make the entire city increasingly favorable to physical activity and sport.”

“For decades, the Seine was limited to economic purposes, tourism with sightseeing boats, and logistics with ships loading and unloading goods in Paris,” Sauvage stated. “It was a river with high levels of pollution that also had a significant impact on its biodiversity.”

Now, he says, the purpose is so as to add one other identification to the river with out erasing the others.

“Paris is not just a postcard image, it is also a magnificent sporting venue,” Sauvage stated. “It is a city that people come to visit, but it is also a city to be experienced by bike, through running, through sport, through play and through swimming.”

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Associated Press author Thomas Adamson in Paris contributed