Geneva Lifestyle, Switzerland

Geneva is a global city, a financial centre, and a worldwide centre, ranked as the world’s important financial centre for competitiveness, the ten most liveable cities, the world’s most compact metropolis and the “Peace Capital”. Geneva also is one of the most expensive city in the world. Geneva was ranked first by gross earnings, second expensive, third in earnings purchasing power gross hourly pay in a global cities ranking by UBS in 2018.

The City of Geneva supports and strengthens, by various means, local associative life. The services of the Department of Social Cohesion and Solidarity, notably through the Unity of Associative Life, develop a real partnership with associations working in the field of social cohesion, seniors and youth. Through various services, the City of Geneva helps to strengthen social ties, to combat insecurity, as well as to develop community and neighborhood life. Favoring local action, it adapts its services to different audiences and local situations. The Social assistance section lists the various financial aids and specific actions that support, throughout the year or during specific periods, people and families of modest means.

International city
It has long been considered a land of asylum because of its role as a host city during the persecutions against Protestants who followed the reform. With the reception of many reformers like Guillaume Farel, Jean Calvin or Théodore de Bèze, it gains its nickname of “Protestant Rome” or “city of Calvin”. Many international personalities find refuge there, such as the famous Lenin before the Russian revolution of 1917.

The City of Geneva is a hotbed of multilateral cooperation around the world. Host of many international organizations (IOs), diplomatic missions and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), it promotes humanist and universal values. The term “international Geneva” refers to this set of international organizations, permanent missions and NGOs present in Geneva. These organizations have made Geneva a recognized center of expertise in many areas such as peace and disarmament, humanitarian law, labor and trade, health, scientific research and sustainable development.

Geneva, along with New York, is one of the world’s leading centers for multilateral diplomacy. Around 2,500 international conferences and meetings are held in Geneva each year. These meetings attract nearly 205,000 delegates from around the world. In addition to this conference activity, more than 4,000 official visits annually by heads of state, heads of government, ministers and high dignitaries. In addition, nearly 30,000 employees work daily in these organizations and permanent missions.

The presence of many multinationals also contributes to the economic dynamism of the Lake Geneva region, and further adds to the cosmopolitanism of the city. This cosmopolitanism, just like its openness to the world, are essential components of the identity of the city of Geneva. With a long tradition of welcoming, the City of Geneva strives to put in place favorable conditions to receive the diplomatic world as well as its new and new inhabitants. In order to maintain its global influence, the City of Geneva is involved in numerous networks of Swiss and international cities. This allows it to get closer to cities having the same objectives or sharing common issues.

Economy
Geneva’s economy is services oriented. The city has an important and long-established finance sector, which specialises in private banking, managing assets of about US$1 trillion, and the financing of international trade. In the September 2017 Global Financial Centres Index, Geneva was ranked as being the 15th most competitive financial centre in the world (up from 20th in March 2017) and the fifth most competitive in Europe (after London, Zürich, Frankfurt, and Luxembourg).

Geneva hosts the international headquarters of companies such as Japan Tobacco International, Mediterranean Shipping Company, Vitol, Gunvor, Mercuria Energy Group, Merck Serono, SITA, Société Générale de Surveillance, STMicroelectronics, and Weatherford International. Many other multinational companies such as Caterpillar, DuPont, and Cargill have their international headquarters in the city; Take Two Interactive, Electronic Arts, INVISTA, Procter & Gamble and Oracle Corporation have their European headquarters in the city. Hewlett Packard has its Europe, Africa, and Middle East headquarters in Meyrin, near Geneva, as does PrivatAir.

There is a long tradition of watchmaking in the city, which dates back to the 16th century. Many watchmakers have been based in Geneva since their foundation, such as (Baume et Mercier, Charriol, Chopard, Franck Muller, Patek Philippe, Rolex, Universal Genève, Raymond Weil, Vacheron Constantin and Frédérique Constant). Two major international producers of flavours and fragrances, Firmenich and Givaudan, have their headquarters and main production facilities in Geneva.

The private sector has a number of employers’ organizations, including the Fédération des Entreprises Romandes Genève (FER Genève) and the Fédération des métiers du bâtiment (FMB). Many people also work in the numerous offices of international organisations located in Geneva (about 22,233 in March 2012).

The Geneva Motor Show is one of the most important international auto shows. It is held at Palexpo, a large convention centre next to the International Airport. In 2009, Geneva was ranked as the fourth most expensive city in the world. Geneva moved up four places from eighth place the previous year.

As of 2011, Geneva had an unemployment rate of 6.3%. As of 2008, there were five people employed in the primary economic sector and about three businesses involved in this sector. 9,783 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 1,200 businesses in this sector. 134,429 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 12,489 businesses in this sector. There were 91,880 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, with women making up 47.7% of the workforce.

In 2008, the total number of full-time equivalent jobs was 124,185. The number of jobs in the primary sector was four, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 9,363 of which 4,863 or (51.9%) were in manufacturing and 4,451 (47.5%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 114,818. In the tertiary sector; 16,573 or 14.4% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 3,474 or 3.0% were in the movement and storage of goods, 9,484 or 8.3% were in a hotel or restaurant, 4,544 or 4.0% were in the information industry, 20,982 or 18.3% were the insurance or financial industry, 12,177 or 10.6% were technical professionals or scientists, 10,007 or 8.7% were in education and 15,029 or 13.1% were in health care.

In 2000, there were 95,190 workers who commuted into the municipality and 25,920 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net importer of workers, with about 3.7 workers entering the municipality for every one leaving. About 13.8% of the workforce coming into Geneva are coming from outside Switzerland, while 0.4% of the locals commute out of Switzerland for work. Of the working population, 38.2% used public transportation to get to work, and 30.6% used a private car.

Housing
Due to its size, its real estate assets and its budget, the City of Geneva is a significant player in the Geneva economy. In terms of the economy, the City of Geneva has more limited room for maneuver than the canton and the Confederation. However, it pursues a proactive policy of supporting the development of local SMEs, in particular via Fondetec and its Learning Fund. It also follows the evolution of the municipal economic fabric.

The City of Geneva has a large real estate portfolio of more than 5,300 housing units. This portfolio, 90% of social housing and some free rental housing, is available for rental. The City of Geneva makes part of its real estate assets available to economic players: public establishments, commercial premises, or parking spaces can be rented.

The various policies put in place by the City of Geneva and reflected in the financial documents aim to establish framework conditions allowing sustainable economic development. This development must respect social and ecological constraints.

Finances
The promotion of a local, responsible, social and united economy is one of the sustainable development objectives of the City of Geneva. Several activities are developed in this context by the Agenda 21 – Sustainable city service.

In order to improve the local quality of life, the City of Geneva actively supports the social and solidarity economy. This private, non-profit or limited-profit economic sector, rooted in a territory, emphasizes people before profit. Helping to create and maintain local businesses in the municipality

To better understand the economic reality of our municipality, the Agenda 21 – Sustainable City Service published in 2012 a study entitled “Economic portrait of the city of Geneva”. In 2018, he published the second edition of this “Economic Portrait of the City of Geneva”. This compiles the most recent consolidated statistical data (2014).

Society
The social policy of proximity (PSP) of the City of Geneva aims to meet the specific needs of the inhabitants and residents in different neighborhoods. It is implemented by the Social Service, the schools service, the Youth Service and the Early Childhood Service, in collaboration with public partners and associations. The implementation of this local social policy is based in particular on four local social branches, four Info Points, eleven neighborhood spaces, aBuilding with infirmary and numerous infrastructures depending on the Department of Social Cohesion and Solidarity.

Media
The city’s main newspaper is the daily Tribune de Genève, with a readership of about 187,000. Le Courrier mainly focuses on Geneva. Both Le Temps (headquartered in Geneva) and Le Matin are widely read in Geneva, but cover the whole of Romandy.

Geneva is the main media center for French-speaking Switzerland. It is the headquarters for the numerous French language radio and television networks of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, known collectively as Radio Télévision Suisse. While both networks cover the whole of Romandy, special programs related to Geneva are sometimes broadcast on some of the local radio frequencies. Other local radio stations broadcast from the city, including YesFM (FM 91.8 MHz), Radio Cité (non-commercial radio, FM 92.2 MHz), OneFM (FM 107.0 MHz, also broadcast in Vaud), and World Radio Switzerland (FM 88.4 MHz). Léman Bleu is a local TV channel, founded in 1996 and distributed by cable. Due to the proximity to France, many French television channels are also available.

Traditions and customs
Geneva observes Jeûne genevois on the first Thursday following the first Sunday in September. By local tradition, this commemorates the date news of the St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre of Huguenots reached Geneva.

Geneva celebrates L’Escalade on the weekend nearest 12 December, celebrating the defeat of the surprise attack of troops sent by Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy during the night of 11–12 December 1602. Festive traditions include chocolate cauldrons filled with vegetable-shaped marzipan treats and the Escalade procession on horseback in seventeenth century armour. Geneva has also been organizing a’Course de l’Escalade’, which means’Climbing Race’. This race takes place in Geneva’s Old Town, and has been popular across all ages. Non-competitive racers dress up in fancy costumes, while walking in the race.

Since 1818, a particular chestnut tree has been used as the official “herald of the spring” in Geneva. The sautier (secretary of the Parliament of the Canton of Geneva) observes the tree and notes the day of arrival of the first bud. While this event has no practical effect, the sautier issues a formal press release and the local newspaper will usually mention the news.

As this is one of the world’s oldest records of a plant’s reaction to climatic conditions, researchers have been interested to note that the first bud has been appearing earlier and earlier in the year. During the 19th century many dates were in March or April. In recent years, they have usually been in late February (sometimes earlier). In 2002, the first bud appeared unusually early, on 7 February, and then again on 29 December of the same year. The following year, one of the hottest years recorded in Europe, was a year with no bud. In 2008, the first bud also appeared early, on 19 February.

Popular rights
The citizens are electors and eligible on condition of being of Swiss nationality and of being domiciled on the territory of the municipality. Foreigners who have been domiciled in Switzerland for at least eight years (including three months in the municipality) also have the right to vote at the municipal level since the adoption of a cantonal popular initiative during the vote of theApril 24, 2005. The other initiative granting the right to stand as a candidate, however, was refused. Geneva thus follows most of the French-speaking towns, which are more liberal than the German-speaking towns, with regard to the possibilities given to foreigners to participate in local political life.

The citizens of the City of Geneva have the right of referendum and popular initiative. These rights also exist at cantonal and federal level. They make it possible to submit to the electorate a decree voted by the Municipal Council or a request for deliberation on a specific subject. To do this, it is necessary to collect the signatures of at least 4,000 voters, within forty days of the adoption of the decree or the launch of the initiative. If the signatures are gathered, the electorate must be called to the polls.

Culture
Geneva has a rich cultural life. It is also the city in Europe which devotes the largest part of its budget to culture (more than 20%).

Its numerous museums, its libraries (in particular the Library of Geneva), the Grand Théâtre and the Orchester de la Suisse romande have greatly contributed to its influence. For twenty years or so, a new type of urban cultural space has been created in disused buildings and preserved as monuments such as the Halles de l’Île, the Factory or the Maison des Arts du Grütli.

For several decades, Geneva has seen the development of an important underground scene, marked by the appearance of numerous squats and self-managed sites dedicated to an alternative culture recognized more or less officially. L’ Usine, Artamis, le Rhino or le Goulet, for example, have long played an important role in the musical, theatrical and cinematographic programming of the city. Since 2005 a repressive campaign has led to the closure of most places of alternative culture, known as “underground”.

Museums
The municipality owns sixteen museums, among which the art and history museums – art and history museum, Tavel house and Rath museum – form the largest museum complex in Switzerland with its eight museums and their million objects, its iconographic center, its library, its research laboratory and its restoration workshops.

Next to it are the Conservatory and Botanical Gardens and their herbaria, bringing together some six million samples, the ethnographic museum and its annex at Conches, the natural history museum, the Ariana museum – Swiss museum of ceramics and glass – the gallery of plaster casts of the University of Geneva (the oldest collection of casts of Switzerland) or the Institute and museum Voltaire, internationally known for its collection of documents from the xviii th century.

There are around twenty private museums, subsidized – like the Mamco – or entirely private – like the Patek Philippe museum and the International Museum of the Reformation.

Arts
In Geneva, most performance venues are owned by public authorities. While some are real institutions, others, geared towards independent companies, also manage to set up full seasons. Still others have no artistic direction, but are hired to local companies.

Ernest Ansermet and the Orchester de la Suisse romande, the Geneva Chamber Orchestra, the Grand Théâtre, the Victoria Hall, the Contrechamps Ensemble, Armin Jordan, the Usine, Artamis or the Black Cat have performed and are doing the reputation of the city.

The ethnomusicology workshops promote dances and music from around the world. The AMR is a music center dedicated to jazz and improvised music.

The Institute of Arab and Mediterranean Cultures (ICAM) organizes concerts and exhibitions dedicated to Arab and Mediterranean culture.

Geneva is also home to theatrical companies that were born there or have decided to set up there.

With the exception of the Grand Théâtre ballet which has a rehearsal space and a performance hall, the Geneva dance companies do not have fixed halls. Defended by the Association for Contemporary Dance, they campaign for the creation of a House of Dance.

Painting and sculpture
Geneva saw developing a school miniaturist importance to xviii th century, notably frequented by famous Aboriginal painter Jean-Étienne Liotard in its early stages, before becoming one of the pastel masters in Europe, or the portrait Elizabeth Terroux and Henriette Rath. Other artists have devoted themselves to history painting, such as Jean-Pierre Saint-Ours, or to alpine landscapes (Pierre-Louis de La Rive, François Diday). The representatives of the avant-garde movements are less numerous (Alice Bailly).

It was in Geneva that the designer, painter, art critic and politician Rodolphe Töpffer was born and lived, considered to be the inventor of comics, of which Father Wolfgang Adam Tœpffer was already one of the first cartoonists. Other artists have contributed to the rise of contemporary Geneva comics, such as Pierre Wazem, Tom Tirabosco, Albertine, Zep, Guillaume Long or Adrienne Barman.

On the international scene, the history of Geneva sculpture is largely dominated by the figure of James Pradier. Among other artists, we will remember John-Étienne Chaponnière, who trained in particular in the Pradier workshop, and Jean Jaquet, a sculptor-decorator very active in the Geneva region. In contemporary art, we should mention the installations of John M. Armleder, Sylvie Fleury or even Manolo Torres.

Culinary art
Among the traditional Geneva dishes, we can mention longeole, whose Geneva recipe includes rinds. Chocolate specialties also exist: Geneva garbage cans, paving stones, the Escalade pot filled with marzipan vegetables. The cardoon is a typical local vegetable that was the subject of an AOC.

Music and festivals
The opera house, the Grand Théâtre de Genève, which officially opened in 1876, was partly destroyed by a fire in 1951 and reopened in 1962. It has the largest stage in Switzerland. It features opera and dance performances, recitals, concerts and, occasionally, theatre. The Victoria Hall is used for classical music concerts. It is the home of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande.

Every summer the Fêtes de Genève (Geneva Festival) are organised in Geneva. According to Radio Télévision Suisse in 2013 hundreds of thousands of people came to Geneva to see the annual hour-long grand firework display of the Fêtes de Genève.

An annual music festival takes place in June. Groups of artists perform in different parts of the city. In 2016 the festival celebrated its 25th anniversary.

Further annual festivals are the Fête de l’Olivier, a festival of Arabic music, organized by the ICAM since 1980, and the Genevan Brass Festival, founded by Christophe Sturzenegger in 2010.

Events
Many events take place throughout the year including:

International Motor Show (March)
International Fine Watchmaking Fair (March-April)
International Exhibition of Inventions (April)
Book and Press Fair (April-May)
International Business Aviation Show (May)
Take to arms of the Old Grenadiers of Geneva (April-May)
Geneva Marathon (May)
Feast of Hope (May)
Bol d’or (veil) (June)
Music Day (June)
Lake Parade (July)
Music in summer (July-August)
Geneva festivals (July-August)
Rowing around Lake Geneva (September)
La Bâtie-Festival de Genève (September)
WWE World Tour (September)
International North-South Media Festival (October)
Les Automnales (November)
L’ Escalade (December)
Christmas Cup (December)
International horse show (December)
International SuperCross Geneva (December)
Geneva Lux (December-January)

Traditions
Since 1818, a chestnut tree on the promenade de la Treille has been used to determine the start of spring. It is the grasshopper who observes the tree and who notes the day of the arrival of the first bud. Le sautier then published a press release which was included in the local press.

The Thursday following the first Sunday in September, Geneva celebrates the Jeûne genevois. According to local tradition invalidated by historical research, this festival would commemorate the news of the Saint-Barthélemy massacre reported by the Huguenots who arrived in Geneva.

Every year, at the beginning of December, Geneva celebrates Escalade, which commemorates a battle in 1602 between the Genevans and the Savoyards.

Every year on December 31, a commemoration of the Geneva Restoration takes place, a consequence of the departure of the Napoleonic troops in 1813.

Education
The Canton of Geneva’s public school system has écoles primaires (ages 4–12) and cycles d’orientation (ages 12–15). Students can leave school at 15, but secondary education is provided by collèges (ages 15–19), the oldest of which is the Collège Calvin, which could be considered one of the oldest public schools in the world, écoles de culture générale (15–18/19) and the écoles professionnelles (15–18/19). The écoles professionnelles offer full-time courses and part-time study as part of an apprenticeship. Geneva also has a number of private schools.

In 2011 89,244 (37.0%) of the population had completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 107,060 or (44.3%) had completed additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule). Of the 107,060 who completed tertiary schooling, 32.5% were Swiss men, 31.6% were Swiss women, 18.1% were non-Swiss men and 17.8% were non-Swiss women.

During the 2011–2012 school year, there were a total of 92,311 students in the Geneva school system (primary to university). The education system in the Canton of Geneva has eight years of primary school, with 32,716 students. The secondary school program consists of three lower, obligatory years of schooling, followed by three to five years of optional, advanced study. There were 13,146 lower-secondary students who attended schools in Geneva. There were 10,486 upper-secondary students from the municipality along with 10,330 students who were in a professional, non-university track program. An additional 11,797 students were attending private schools.

Geneva is home to the University of Geneva where approximately 16,500 students are regularly enrolled. In 1559 John Calvin founded the Geneva Academy, a theological and humanist seminary. In the 19th century the Academy lost its ecclesiastic links and in 1873, with the addition of a medical faculty, it became the University of Geneva. In 2011 it was ranked 35th European university.

The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies was among the first academic institutions in the World to teach international relations. It is one of Europe’s most prestigious institutions, offering MA and PhD programmes in law, political science, history, economics, international affairs, and development studies.

The oldest international school in the world is the International School of Geneva, founded in 1924 along with the League of Nations. The Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations is a private university in the grounds of the Château de Penthes.

CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) is probably the best known of Geneva’s educational and research facilities, most recently for the Large Hadron Collider. Founded in 1954, CERN was one of Europe’s first joint ventures and has developed as the world’s largest particle physics laboratory. Physicists from around the world travel to CERN to research matter and explore the fundamental forces and materials that form the universe.

Geneva is home to five major libraries, the Bibliothèques municipales Genève, the Haute école de travail social, Institut d’études sociales, the Haute école de santé, the Ecole d’ingénieurs de Genève and the Haute école d’art et de design. There were (as of 2008) 877,680 books or other media in the libraries, and in the same year 1,798,980 items were loaned.

Sports

Athletics
The Association Genevoise d’Athlétisme (AGA) supervises the practice of athletics in the canton of Geneva.

There are several athletics clubs, including Stade Genève and Versoix Athlétisme (VA). Several of their athletes have obtained national titles. Stade Genève was founded in 1916 and has more than 600 members to its credit. He found the National League A in 2008 and ranks in 3 th position in the national rankings in 2009. In 2010, an athlete of this club in particular for the Swiss best performance of the year in U16 80 m. Their best athlete is Julien Wanders who sets the world record for the 5 km as well as the European record for the 10 km and the half marathon. He wins theCourse de l’Escalade, the most important local popular race, in the Escaladélite category two years in a row (in 2017 and 2018). The VA is he founded in 2007 by Frida Svensson, and one of his athletes produced the best Swiss performance of the year on 400 m in the U18 category in 2010.

Other less prestigious clubs are present in the canton such as Athletics Viseu Geneva (AVG), the Geneva Athletic Center (CAG), the Hygienic Club of Plainpalais (CHP), the FSG Collonge-Bellerive or the FSG Meyrin.

Although of Eritrean origin, Tadesse Abraham, naturalized Swiss in 2014. Resident in Geneva, he won several prestigious national races such as the Grand Prix de Berne, the Escalade Race or the Basel Urban Race.. He holds at present the Swiss record in marathon.

The major races in the canton are the Geneva marathon, held every year in May since 2005, the 20 km de Genève in October and the Escalade Race in December. In May-June, the Tour du Canton de Genève (TCGE) also takes place, a race contested over several stages.

Basketball
In basketball, the Geneva Lions, who play in the National League A, were born from the active collaboration between the clubs of Versoix Basket and Chêne Basket in 2000. Its main achievement is the victory in the Swiss Cup in 2003. For its part, Meyrin Grand-Saconnex (MGS) also plays in the National League A.

Geneva player Clint Capela is currently playing with the Houston Rockets in the NBA in the United States as well as with the Swiss basketball team.

Curling
In curling, Peter de Cruz’s team play in the National League A, where they are also Swiss champions of 2017. They won the bronze medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Football
The January 21, 1869on the Plainpalais plain, a football match pitted the Geneva Elevens against eleven compatriots from Lausanne. The Journal de Genève, which reported on it as something new, concluded, however: “We hope that this beautiful game, which was once very popular among us, will once again become widespread among our adolescents”.

The clubs Geneva (Servette FC and Genève-Servette HC in particular) play from the beginning of the xx th century garnet.

The Servette Football Club 1890 (SFC), founded in 1890, has been playing in the Super League League (D1) since the 2019-2020 season. Management problems caused the bankruptcy of the club in 2005, which was then relegated to the first league (amateur). The team has since been promoted to the Challenge League (2 nd division, professional) and celebrated his comeback in the elite of Swiss football at the end of the 2010-2011 season, on May 31, 2011, thanks to a spectacular and historic rise in the rankings. The club then fell back to the Challenge League (June 2013) then to the Premier League promotion (June 2015, failing to obtain a license due to financial difficulties). The club returned to the first division in July 2019 after winning the 2018-2019 Challenge League. He is now based at the Stade de Genève, having played for a century (from 1902 to 2002) at the Stade des Charmilles. The SFC holds the third best prize list in Switzerland with 17 championships to its name.

There are other less prestigious Geneva teams, such as CS Chênois, Étoile Carouge FC, Meyrin FC or Urania Genève Sport (UGS).

The cantonal federation responsible for supervising the practice is the Geneva Cantonal Football Association (ACGF).

Field hockey
In field hockey, the Servette HC plays in the National League A. The Blackboys Hockey Club Geneva was founded in 1933, the club currently playing at the highest Swiss level (National League A) through its first team.

Ice hockey
In ice hockey, a very popular sport in Switzerland, the Genève-Servette Hockey Club (GSHC), created in 1905, has played since the 2002 – 2003 season in the National League A (first division) and is the city’s leading sports team. Since its rise in LNA, the GSHC has missed the play-offs only once. And at the end of the seasons 2007 – 2008 and 2009-2010, she qualified for the final of the play-offs of the Swiss Championship, where she lost respectively against the ZSC Lions Zurich and SC Bern. The average attendance rate in the Vernets ice rinkis 7,772 for the 2013-2014 season, or 108.9% filling. With its peak rate, GSHC is ranked 17 th European.

Handball
In handball, the Chênois Sports Club has been promoted in LNB (2nd Division) after having already played two seasons in SHL (LNA) of 2006 to 2008 thanks to a wild card offered by the Swiss National League handball.

Handisport
In disabled sports, the Handisport Genève association (formerly Sport Handicap Genève) is the oldest sports association for disabled people in Switzerland. Its handibasket team, Les Aigles de Meyrin, was Swiss champion without interruption from 1960 to 1977. The team has participated in the European Cups every year since 1994.

Swimming
In swimming, Geneva has several clubs including Natation Sportive Genève (NSG) and Genève Natation 1885 (GN 1885). The Vernets swimming pool (including an Olympic basin) and the Varembé swimming pool are the two public swimming pools of the City of Geneva. Other public swimming pools are notably located in the municipalities of Carouge, Lancy, Meyrin and Onex.

You can also practice swimming in open water in Lake Geneva. The city has several beaches: the most popular being the Bains des Pâquis (right bank of the lake) and Genève-Plage (left bank of the lake). In order to offer an alternative to the population and to relieve congestion on the two main Geneva beaches, the Eaux-Vives beach is open from June 22, 2019 on the left bank of the lake, which can accommodate up to 8,000 people.

The Geneva swimmer Swann Oberson notably won the 5 km in open water at the 2011 World Swimming Championships.

Swimrun
Since 2018, there is a swimrun competition contested in the municipality of Vernier and organized by the latter. This event alternates sections of running and swimming in the Rhône.

Tennis
In tennis, the Geneva tennis tournament, part of the ATP circuit, is played every year in May at the Geneva Tennis Club Eaux-Vives.

Two Geneva clubs play in the National League A (elite men) of Interclub. They also met in the final of the 2011 edition, where the Cologny Sports Center beat its neighbor Geneva EV 5-4, which made them the two best Swiss clubs of the year.

Sailing
In sailing, Alinghi is the Swiss union of the Société nautique de Genève (SNG) which participated in the America’s Cup. He won two editions in 2003 in Auckland and 2007 in Valencia (as a defender). Its owner is businessman Ernesto Bertarelli. The Swiss Challenge also received the 2003 Team of the Year award in Switzerland. The SNG is organizing the Bol d’Or, a regatta on Lake Geneva in mid-June, and the rowing tour of Lake Geneva, the longest regatta in the world for rowers with its 160 km.

Volleyball
In volleyball, the Club sportif Chênois Genève, which plays in the National League A, was five times Swiss champion, holds eight Swiss cups and won two Swiss super-cups. In 2006, Chênois won all three trophies. She has also participated regularly in the European Cup, with mixed results. The attendance rate for the Sous-Moulin room (Thônex) is around 300 spectators per match. The other historic Swiss volleyball club in Geneva is the Servette Star-Onex VBC. Resulting from the merger of Servette VB and Star-Onex, both founded in the 1950s, this club has more than 20 national titles and120 regional and thus presents one of the biggest Swiss awards.