Olympic swimmers finally made their jump into the Seine River in Paris near the Pont Alexandre III on Wednesday morning after multiple delays over water safety concerns.

One of the most widely discussed venues for the Paris Olympics was the Seine River as the host of swimming for triathlon events and the marathon swim, but hosting the events was contingent on a costly cleanup effort to make the river swimmable for the first time in more than 100 years. Officials confirmed early Wednesday that the women’s and men’s triathlon events would proceed with swimming the Seine.

“The results of the latest water analyses, received at 3.20am, have been assessed as compliant by World Triathlon allowing for the triathlon competitions to take place,” a statement from Olympic organizers said Wednesday.

The women’s triathlon was the first event in which swimmers took the plunge into the river, followed by the men’s event later Wednesday. In the women’s event, France’s Cassandre Beaugrand won the gold medal, while in the men’s event, Great Britain’s Alex Yee won gold.

Because of inadequate water quality levels prior to Wednesday, two swimming training events in the Seine were canceled, and the men’s event, which was scheduled for Tuesday, was delayed until immediately after the women’s event on Wednesday.

Paris spent $1.5 billion to clean up the Seine River in time for the 2024 Summer Olympics, only seven years after landing the Games. The river also played host to Friday’s opening ceremony, which featured a pouring rain — only adding to concerns the Seine would not be clean enough for the swimming events.

One of the test events for the triathlon in the Seine held last year was canceled over concerns regarding the water’s safety for swimming. A contingency plan had been formulated whereby the swimming portion of the triathlon would be canceled if the water quality was not at a safe level by a certain date.

In Washington, D.C., efforts have been made to hold a swim in the Anacostia River in 2023 and 2024, but in both years, the event was called off due to unsafe levels of E. coli. The Potomac River had long been unsafe to swim in, but recent efforts have made the river safe enough to take a dip in, according to a recent report, though it is still illegal to do so.

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The next swimming event in the Seine River is marathon swimming, scheduled for next week.

The Paris Olympics will continue through Aug. 11 and are being broadcast domestically by NBC. At the closing ceremony, the Olympic flag will be handed off to Los Angeles, which will host the 2028 Summer Olympics.