Nina Pavan (in Marseille), edited by Gauthier Delomez 6:58 p.m., October 22, 2022

Open water swimming in the Mediterranean is disrupted off Marseille, denounce the managers of swimming clubs who wanted to express their anger on Saturday.

According to them, the offenses are increasing and putting them in danger.

The maritime prefecture says, however, that it has tackled the problem head-on.

They are tired of risking their lives every time they swim.

Managers of sea swimming clubs demonstrated this Saturday in Marseille in the Malmousque district to denounce a lack of safety in the waters.

Insufficient controls of motor boats, too high speed of jet skis in the first 300 meters after the coast... Europe 1 met Noëlle, who has been swimming in the harbor of the Marseille city for more than 20 years.

It became more and more dangerous, according to her.

"A boat ran over me," she says.

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"He couldn't see me. Afterwards, when he saw me, he put the throttle on and took off at full speed...I was very afraid of tripping my legs (in his propeller) and he "was in the 100 meters", explains the open water swimmer to Europe 1.

No control at sea, according to regular swimmers

The number of boats has only increased around Marseille, especially for the summer months.

Alain simply prefers to go swimming elsewhere.

"I'm even going to swim outside Marseille, in Cassis or La Ciotat. They don't look to see if there are swimmers," he breathes.

"However, nowadays, all swimmers have buoys, but even with them, there are problems", remarks Alain.

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Inexperienced sailors who rent a boat for the day do not respect the laws.

This is the danger to which the maritime prefecture is tackling.

"The checks are not an end in themselves, what counts is the result", says Pierre-Louis Josselin, frigate captain.

"We were able to see this summer in Marseille a reduction in the number of conflicts of use reported by 30%", he indicates.

However, those used to swimming in Marseille say they have not seen any checks at sea this summer.

The latter hope to be heard quickly by the State services so that this zone of 300 meters wide from the coast is better shared.