Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo swam in the murky waters of the Seine today to demonstrate that the river is clean enough to host the upcoming Olympic open water events.
Wearing goggles and a wetsuit, Hidalgo, 65, swims breaststroke before submerging her face and beginning a front freestyle, covering about 100m upstream and downstream. She was joined by the head of the Organizing Committee of the Games, Tony Estange, a three-time gold medalist in canoeing.
"Today we confirm that we are exactly where we need to be. Now we are ready to organize the Olympics in Seine," said Estange.
Despite a 1.4 billion euro investment to prevent possible pollution of the river, the Seine continues to divide opinion over its cleanliness after repeatedly failing water quality tests. It wasn't until the beginning of the month, since torrential rains gave way to drier weather, that tests showed the river was ready for the open water swim and triathlon — and for the 65-year-old Hidalgo.
"On the eve of the Games, when the Seine will play a key role, this event is a demonstration of the efforts made by the city and the state to improve the water quality of the Seine and the ecological state of the river," Hidalgo's office said in a statement yesterday.
The mayor of Paris had intended to swim last month but had to postpone it because the levels of bacteria indicating the presence of faecal matter were sometimes 10 times the legal limit.
Absent from the event was French President Emmanuel Macron, who had promised to join the Seine swim but is now dealing with a political crisis after calling a snap election last month.
The River Seine will be used for the swimming circuit of the Olympic triathlon on July 30-31 and August 5, as well as the open water swim on August 8-9. Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera became the first public figure to venture into the Seine last Saturday. | BGNES
