Mainz Fire Department's Annual New Year's Eve Swim: Shortened Funxml:namespace prefix = "o" ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /

The city of Mainz celebrated the start of 2025 with the 51st annual New Year's Eve swim of the Mainz Fire Department. The event, which took place this morning, was marked by the presence of several well-known faces from politics and society, who gathered at the Rhine riverbank.

Mayor Nino Haase officially started the event at 10 am. Participants included fire departments from various cities, emergency police, water police, German Armed Forces, state fire and disaster protection academy, local groups of the German Life Saving Association (DLRG) and the German Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW), private diving clubs, employees from politics and administration of the city of Mainz, and representatives from the "Mainzer Feuerwehrkorps."

Approximately 200 swimmers braved temperatures near freezing and water temperatures of 13°C to participate in the event. Experienced and professionally equipped swimmers were secured by several rescue boats during the swim. Swimming in the Rhine without training, equipment, and safety measures is life-threatening, and the Mainz Fire Department emphasized this point to ensure the safety of all participants.

The proceeds from the donation campaign at the New Year's Eve swim will be donated to the "Early Start e.V." association in Mainz. This non-profit association, founded in 1993, works for premature babies, sick newborns, and at-risk children. The association aims to improve the care of children in the neonatal intensive care unit and associated aftercare facilities of the children's clinic at the University Medical Center Mainz.

Despite the changed route due to the unavailability of the fire-fighting boat, the New Year's Eve swim was a great success again this year. Around 400 spectators watched the event from the Rhine riverbank, some of whom cheered on creatively dressed participants with floating accessories.

The event concluded in a cozy atmosphere after Mayor Nino Haase and Mr. Stefan Behrendt, Inspector of Fire and Disaster Protection of the city of Mainz, were received in the Rheingoldhalle. The Mainz Fire Department wishes all citizens a safe slide into the new year and all the best for 2025. The event fosters contacts with other organizations involved in water rescue and supports a good cause.

For further questions, the City of Mainz Fire Department can be contacted at 06131 - 12 4650 or [email protected].

Mainz Fire Department's Annual New Year's Eve Swim: Shortened Funxml:namespace prefix = "o" ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /