Two years after the Léon Marchand fever, Paris is once again buzzing with excitement in the pool. The capital is hosting the European Swimming Championships from July 31 to August 16. Five disciplines are on the program: competitive swimming, diving, artistic swimming, open water swimming, and high diving. This is an opportunity to continue the legacy of the Paris 2024 Games with two exceptional competition venues: the Seine, whose water quality has been significantly improved in recent years, to the point that the general public can swim in it for the second summer in a row, and the Olympic Aquatic Centre in Saint-Denis.
"A real cauldron"
In June 2025, the CAO (Athletic Center of the Île-de-France region) was opened to the public with the aim of promoting swimming lessons among the population of the Île-de-France. Athletes returned in March for the Giant Open, and they will be in the spotlight again starting this Friday. The public didn't want to miss it: more than 50.000 tickets were sold. Prices were attractive, starting at 8 euros for diving, 10 euros for artistic swimming, and 18 euros for races. These European Championships are " the biggest sporting event of the year in France and the fruit of almost ten years of work “This is a real opportunity,” emphasizes Lazreg Benelhadj, vice-president of the French Swimming Federation. France hadn't hosted the competition since 1987, when it was held in Strasbourg. An eternity ago. For once, the French public will be able to see their athletes in person, and not necessarily on a screen.
« When we built the Olympic Aquatics Centre, our main question was: what do we do after the Olympic Games? There's the issue of the legacy for the local community; one of our goals was to ensure that the community, and especially the younger generation, benefited from it. “This is a priority for the department,” explains Quentin Gesell, Vice-President for Sport of the Greater Paris Metropolitan Area. Since it opened to the public, 300.000 visits have been recorded. The goal is to triple this total and reach one million visits within five years.
The other aspect of the legacy lies in major events. For several weeks, we've been working on transforming the site to restore the stands, a 5.000-seat configuration to create a real cauldron of an atmosphere. We hope for a fantastic atmosphere over the next two weeks. “,” says Quentin Gesell, who hopes that the CAO will welcome other competitions in the coming years ". " The Olympic legacy is about creating opportunities and inspiring new generations “,” recalls Noam Zwi, Secretary General of European Aquatics.
