Paddleboard Racers Take Over the Seine River in Paris
Lionel Bonaventure/AFP/Getty Images
While others huddled under blankets in their apartments or cozied up to mulled wine in cafés, several hundred brave souls took to the Seine river in Paris to compete in the city's annual paddleboard race last weekend.
Officially titled the “Nautic Sup Paris Crossing,” the event is an 11-kilometer, or approximately seven-mile, race starting at the National Library in Paris and winding its way to the Quai de Javel. More than 600 people participated in this year’s event, making it the most popular event yet, the Guardian reported.
Bruno Hasulyo won the race in the men’s category and Susak Molinero scored the women’s first place spot.
Lionel Bonaventure/AFP/Getty Images
Spectators cheered on the 500 amateurs and 100 professionals from some of the 24 bridges that cross over the Seine along the route, local newspaper Le Parisien reported. Of those 500 amateurs, two people fell in the river and had to be rescued by emergency services, according to the same account. The event remained a cheery outing for most participants, according to organizers.
“The weather was gorgeous. Some competitors put down their paddles and took out their cameras,” the event’s director Didier Lafitte told Le Parisien.
