European Aquatics (LEN) announced a five-stop Open Water Cup for the summer of 2025.
Paris will be one of the cities on the stop following a controversial open water rollout at last summer’s Olympic Games. Questions about the Seine River’s water quality were prominent for months leading up to the games, and the week of the races a training session was cancelled due to the water quality that morning. The swim might not be in the Seine, as European Aquatics has not announced the exact location of the swims.
Other potential open water venues in Paris include the Parc de Vilette, which World Aquatics (then FINA) used on the 2022 Open Water World Cup, and the Vaires-sur-Marne, which served as the host of rowing and canoeing events for the 2024 Olympics as well as the swimming back-up venue. There have also been regional open water races in Lac de Créteil and Lac d’Enghien-les-Bains, though nothing to the scale of a World Cup. The closest location to Paris that European Aquatics used for Cups in recent years is Gravelines, which is about a three-hour drive north of Paris.
2025 Competition Schedule
- May 3rd – Protarus, Cyprus
- June 22nd – Setúbal, Portugal
- July 26th – Paris, France
- September 20th – Barcelona, Spain
- September 27th – Razanac, Croatia
The open water events for the 2025 World Championships in Singapore conclude six days before the Paris stop. Pool competition in Singapore starts the 27th, so dual open/pool swimmers would likely not be able to compete in both.
It’s noteworthy that the 2nd stop in Setúbal, Portugal, is one week after the World Aquatics Open Water Cup’s stop in the same location.
Europeans dominated the Olympic open water races last summer, bringing five of the sport’s six medals back to the continent. The reigning male and female champions of the tour are Italy’s Andrea Filadelli and France’s Ines Delacroix.
LEN implementing a novel concept – educate the athletes for their first colonoscopy prep later in life.
What the F
Screw the athletes, make the money, and swim in a polluted river that’s been condemned for the past 100 yrs.