Marseille will host on Thursday, May 30, 2019, the first waste collection competition in Europe: The big challenge. Between Catalans beach and Escale Borely, twenty teams will compete to determine who will best clean the coastline of the Phocaean City.The big challenge was born in the mind of swimmer Manu Laurin, known for his involvement in cleaning the seabed. It is a unique event in Europe, supported and co-organized by the Marseille brand Sauvage, the association Palana Environment and the school AMOS Marseille. Together, the participants want to raise awareness among the French about the state of the Mediterranean, the most polluted sea in the world according to WWF. This waste hunt will thus be an opportunity to draw attention to this essential element of the French landscape.
80 participants and about twenty high-level athletes will be crisscrossing the eight kilometers of coastline separating Catalans beach from Escale Borely to clean the polluted waters of this area. The teams will be composed of five people: two kayaker/swimmer pairs and one high-level athlete. The competition is organized in the form of a kayak race, with swimmers taking turns retrieving waste from the water’s depths and bringing it back to their craft. A large gathering will then take place at the arrival village in the 8th arrondissement of Marseille, where events, interventions by eco-responsible sports specialists, and a concert will be organized.
Personalities at the service of ecologyThe big challenge combines both athletic performance and ecological action. This is why a sports personality will accompany and coach the other four members of their team. The swimmers – Olympic champions – Coralie Balmy, Fabien Gilot, and Frédérick Bousquet will be part of the event. Water sports will not be the only ones represented: the basketball player Pierre Pelos and world athletics champion Muriel Urtis have also agreed to participate.
Monetary prizes will be offered to teams that complete the various challenges: returning with the largest quantity of waste, picking up the most unusual item, or finding ‘The Grand Sapphire,’ a recycled plastic sapphire hidden along the route. The winners can then redistribute the amount won by their team to a local environmental protection association of their choice. Subsequently, another collection, open to everyone, will take place on the Escale Borely beach.
Julien Barletta