Paris mayor dips into Seine to banish pollution fears
Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo has taken a dip in the Seine river, fulfilling a promise to show that the long-polluted waterway is clean enough to host swimming competitions during the 2024 Olympics as well as part of the opening ceremony.
Daily water quality tests in early June indicated unsafe levels of E. coli bacteria, followed by recent improvements.
Clad in a wetsuit and goggles, Hidalgo plunged into the river near the imposing-looking City Hall, her office, and the Notre Dame cathedral.
Paris 2024 chief Tony Estanguet and the top government official for the Paris region, Marc Guillaume, joined her, along with swimmers from local swimming clubs.
“The Seine is exquisite,” said Hidalgo from the water. After emerging, she continued to enthuse, saying: “The water is very, very good. A little cool, but not so bad.”
She also said the day was “a dream” and a “testimony that we have achieved a lot of work,” referencing the city’s ‘swimming plan’ that was launched in 2015.
.”After 20 years of doing sports in the river, I find it admirable that we are trying to clean it up,” said Estanguet, who has three Olympic gold medals in canoeing.
Wednesday’s event is part of a broader effort to showcase the river’s improved cleanliness ahead of the Games, which start on July 26 with a lavish open-air ceremony that includes an athletes’ parade on boats on the Seine.
Concerns over the Seine’s flow and pollution levels prompted daily water quality tests by the monitoring group Eau de Paris. Results in early June indicated unsafe levels of E. coli bacteria, followed by recent improvements.
The Seine will host several open water swimming events during the Games, including marathon swimming at the Olympic Games and the swimming legs of the Olympic and Paralympic triathlons.
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