A crowd lined the perimeter of Bond Street Wharf as about 150 people plunged into the Baltimore harbor on Sunday during Harbor Splash — the first public harbor swim event in decades.

Hosted by Baltimore nonprofit Waterfront Partnership, the event was a celebration of decades’ worth of progress made in improving water quality in the harbor.

“There is still work to be done, and I don’t expect everyone to change their mind overnight, but today, I urge us all to reconsider our relationship with the Baltimore harbor and acknowledge that things have changed,” said Adam Lindquist, the director of Waterfront Partnership’s Healthy Harbor Initiative.

The event resembled a block party with attendees dancing around in beach-inspired attire. Even Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott jumped in. Some participants — like Charles Village resident Peter Jackson — brought inflatables to enjoy while swimming off the Fells Point floating pier.

“Today is incredible,” said Jackson, with an inflatable flamingo around his waist. “I spent my entire life here, and a lot of my time has been spent right along this water, and I never had the opportunity to go in — and all of that changed today.”

Each swimmer was equipped with a life vest and given a few minutes to swim and relish the water before the next group of swimmers was called to jump in.

Harbor Splash follows decades of restorative practices in the city like the 2014 installation of Mr. Trash Wheel, which has removed hundreds of tons of debris from the harbor. Three years after the installation, the city invested over $1 billion in sewer infrastructure, upgrades and repairs.

Sewer overflows that have been identified as key pollutants to the Baltimore harbor were reduced by 76% over the past five years, and five million pounds of trash have been removed from the water.

“This water centers the city and gives us a unique place on the Eastern Seaboard,” Maryland Comptroller Brooke Lierman said at the event. “We must have clean water, greenspace and healthy trees to ensure an ecosystem healthy for humans above the water and beneath it, and we will.”

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Lierman emphasized the importance of the harbor to not only Baltimore but the state as a key contributor to the region’s success.

“Maryland can never be a truly great state until Baltimore City reaches its full potential, and here today, we are taking another step in reaching that full potential,” Lierman said.