Anne Hidalgo will follow France's Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera, who entered the river last weekend.
French capital Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo will swim the Seine on Wednesday to demonstrate that the river is clean enough to host outdoor swimming events during the Summer Olympics, her office revealed.
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.
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. Hidalgo will enter the water along with the head of the Organizing Committee of the Olympics, Tony Estangue, a former canoeist, and the head of security for the Grand Paris, Marc Guillaume. An open water swimming competition was organized after that.
The event will not be attended by French President Emmanuel Macron, who had promised to join the Seine swim but is currently 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
