PARIS:
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo took an important step to demonstrate the improved water quality of the Seine River by swimming in it on Wednesday. This demonstration was intended to assure that the waters of the Seine are suitable for the Olympic swimming competitions scheduled from July 26 to August 11, 2024 in the Seine.
Hidalgo made the plunge at around 10am on a glorious summer day in Paris, with visitors flocking to nearby bridges to catch a glimpse of her after several postponements due to heavy rain and doubts about water quality.
Hidalgo, dressed in a wet suit and goggles, was accompanied by Tony Estanguet, head of the Paris Olympic Organizing Committee, among others. They swam in the river, highlighting the success of extensive efforts to clean up the Seine. Hidalgo stated, “We’ve been working very, very hard and then you go down in the water and it looks natural. The water is very, very good, a little cool.”
According to the most recent Seine water quality bulletin on July 12, based on the Eau de Paris water analysis, the water quality would be suitable for swimming on six of the seven days at the Olympics.
Decisions on whether to go ahead with the Olympics will be made the night before, and early that morning, with a technical committee including athletes, international federation, regional authorities and Meteo France making the call.
“The first athletes arrive tomorrow, so this is a very important message that, finally, the Seine is swimmable and the triathlon and swimming events can be held here,” Estanguet said.
Paris is working to clean up the Seine so that people can swim in it again, as happened during the Paris Olympics in 1900. Former Paris mayor Jacques Chirac in 1988 promised to swim in the Seine “in the presence of of witnesses’, but his dive never materialized.
The city has built a huge storage basin capable of holding 46,000 cubic meters of sewage before it flows through a tunnel to a treatment plant. When the water meets the required sanitary criteria, it will then be poured into the Seine.
If the river is not deemed suitable, the organizers have contingency plans: the marathon swimming event will be held in Vaires-sur-Marne, where the rowing and canoeing races are held, and the triathlon will be converted into a duathlon.
Jenn Fluet, a 21-year-old tourist visiting New York, said Hidalgo was brave. Asked if she would follow suit, Fluet said: “Hell no! It’s dirty.”
Quentin Mazars, a 33-year-old swimming club member who joined in Hidalgo, Seine, said he was “careful not to swallow water”.
Pierre Suzeau, a 66-year-old member of an outdoor swimming team, emerged from his dive full of energy.
“We are very happy to finally see urban swimming become a reality,” he said. “We hope the Seine and the canals will soon be all flooded.”
French Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra had already taken a dip in the river on Saturday.
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