High diving debuts in Paris's Seine, testing the river's newly reclaimed waters

Paris is holding its first-ever high-diving competition in the Seine, with athletes leaping from a 20-metre platform near the Eiffel Tower at the Pont de Bir-Hakeim. The event forms part of the European Aquatics Championships and doubles as a fresh test of the city's efforts to make the river usable for sport.

On Thursday, organisers briefly suspended training after traces of hydrocarbons were detected upstream. The French Swimming Federation said the affected section was subsequently treated, and competition resumed as planned on Friday. The high-diving final and medal rounds are scheduled for Saturday, while the wider championships continue until 16 August.

Paris deputy mayor for sport, Maxime Sauvage, said some risks remain outside the city's control, though major investments made ahead of the 2024 Olympics — including work to stop sewage entering the river and improved stormwater management — have addressed what can be managed. He noted that a small residual risk is part of what makes outdoor sporting events special.

Hundreds of spectators gathered along the riverbanks on Friday to watch, including many who came across the event by chance while out walking near the Eiffel Tower. Several visitors said the public, open-air setting made the competition especially appealing, allowing people unfamiliar with diving to stop and enjoy the spectacle.

This year marks the 38th European Aquatics Championships, coinciding with the centenary of the first such championships, held in Budapest in 1926. Paris last hosted the event in 1931. More than 1,000 athletes are competing across five disciplines: swimming, diving, artistic swimming, open-water swimming and high diving.

Swimming in the Seine had been officially banned since 1923 due to pollution and river-traffic hazards. Public swimming only returned in 2025, after Paris and its partners invested €1.4bn to make the river swimmable, an effort accelerated by preparations for the Olympics.