Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo took a swim in the Seine's murky waters on Wednesday to showcase that the river is now clean enough for Olympic outdoor swimming events. Sporting goggles and a wet suit, the 65-year-old leader performed breaststroke before switching to front crawl, swimming approximately 100 meters upstream and downstream. She was accompanied by high-ranking local officials and Tony Estanguet, a triple Olympic canoeing gold medalist and head of the Paris Games organizing committee, which kicks off next week on July 26.
"Today confirms that we are precisely where we intended to be," Estanguet stated. "We are now prepared to host the games in the Seine." Despite a 1.4 billion euro ($1.5 billion) investment to prevent sewage overflows, the Seine's condition has been a point of concern leading up to the Paris Games. However, since early July, with the rain subsiding and sunny weather prevailing, water samples have indicated the river is suitable for open-water swimming and triathlons.
Hidalgo's office highlighted that this event, on the eve of the Games where the Seine plays a crucial role, symbolizes the city and state's efforts to enhance the Seine's water quality and ecological status. Originally scheduled to swim last month, Hidalgo postponed her swim due to bacteria levels sometimes reaching ten times the permitted limits. Her delayed swim became a subject of social media humor, with an AI-generated image depicting her as the wrinkled Gollum from 'The Lord of the Rings' after her aquatic adventure.
A fleeting protest group using the hashtag #jechiedanslaSeine encouraged people to defecate in the river upstream to protest against the Socialist administration. President Emmanuel Macron, who had pledged to join the Seine swimmers, was notably absent due to a political crisis triggered by his call for snap parliamentary elections. The Seine will host the Olympic triathlon swimming on July 30-31 and August 5, and the open-water swimming on August 8-9.
Past Olympics, such as those in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and Tokyo in 2021, have faced similar challenges with open-water swimming locations. Marc Valmassoni from the Surfrider clean-water campaign group, which has been conducting weekly tests on the Seine since last year, noted, "The results are not excellent, not terrible, just average. But at this time, the water is swimmable."
Cleaning up the Seine is touted as a major legacy of Paris 2024, with Hidalgo planning to establish three public bathing areas for Parisians next year, a century after swimming was prohibited in the river. "We're not doing this for just three days of competition in the Seine," Estanguet explained in an interview. "We're doing it primarily for environmental reasons... I'm proud that we've acted as a catalyst." Authorities have upgraded water treatment and storage facilities around Paris and ensured that thousands of unconnected homes and canal boats are now linked to the sewerage system.
Despite these efforts, major storms can still overwhelm Paris's 19th-century wastewater network. Heavy rains in May and June led to untreated sewage discharges into the Seine and increased river flow, posing challenges for Paris 2024 organizers. Rehearsals for the Seine-based opening ceremony, involving thousands of athletes sailing down the river, have been repeatedly delayed due to strong currents. The Seine's current flow is about 400 m3/second, significantly higher than the usual level of around 100-150 m3/s for this time of year.
