Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo dove into the Seine River in an attempt to show off the river’s cleanliness for the upcoming Paris Olympics.
After declaring earlier that the water will be depolluted, the Paris mayor dipped her head into the river while swimming. Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, the French Minister of Sports, had also swum in the Seine the previous week.
Mayor Hidalgo admitted: “It’s very, very cool to be here and it was a dream and now it’s real … after the Games we will have a swimming pool in the river for all the people, for the Parisian people and for the tourists also.”
Seine swimming concerns
Concerns about the river’s readiness for swimming events persist despite a 1.4 billion euro ($1.5 billion) clean-up plan for the Seine, where swimming has been prohibited for over a century due to pollution levels.
Official data indicates that occasional bouts of rain can rapidly result in E. coli levels to rise once more. As of June 30, after rain the day before, E. coli levels increased around 2000 CFU/100 mL and were detected at Alexandra III Bridge. That is double the amount of what the World Triathlon considers “good” water quality.
Later this month, triathlon competitions are scheduled to begin at the city’s Alexandre III Bridge. However, official testing conducted by the city has revealed that the presence of E. coli bacteria was above acceptable levels on the majority of days between June 3 and July 2, which could have seriously threatened the health of athletes.
Furthermore, the June 24 rehearsal was cancelled because of high water flows caused by heavy rain. The Paris Olympics opening ceremony is scheduled to commence on July 26.
Source: CNN