Paris Mayor Swims in Seine Ahead of Olympic Opening Ceremony as Promised
With the condition of the Seine River a major concern heading into the Olympics later this month, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo had promised to swim in the river prior to the games to show the water levels were safe.
Hidalgo made good on that promise on Thursday, nine days before the opening ceremony that promises to wow with an intro of athletes on the Seine.
It is also the venue for open water swimming and other water sports such as canoeing.
“The Seine is exquisite,” Hidalgo told the Associated Press from the water. After emerging, she continued to rave, “The water is very, very good. A little cool, but not so bad.’’ She also said today was “a dream” and a “testimony that we have achieved a lot of work.”
The Seine has been tested daily and the quality in early June showed unsafe levels of E. coli bacteria, but it has improved steadily since then, according to reports.
Hidalgo had a wetsuit and goggles and jumped in near City Hall and the Notre Dame Cathedral.
According to the report, 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.
They swam down the river for about 100 meters, switching between crawl and breaststroke.
“After twenty 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.
