Paris mayor swims in Seine River to prove it’s clean enough for Olympic events

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo took a long-awaited dip in the River Seine on Wednesday morning in a bid to prove the water is clean enough to host the outdoor swimming events at the Olympics later this month.

Nine days before the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics, Hidalgo swam in the famed waterway as hundreds of onlookers watched from the riverbanks.

Hidalgo plunged into the river near the imposing-looking City Hall, her office, and the Notre Dame Cathedral. Paris 2024 chief Tony Estanguet joined her.

This was part of a broader effort to showcase the river’s improved cleanliness ahead of the summer games, which will kick off 26 July and host open-water swimming competitions.

Concerns over the Seine’s flow and pollution levels have persisted as the Olympics draw near, prompting daily water quality tests by the monitoring group Eau de Paris.

Daily water quality tests in early June indicated unsafe levels of E. coli bacteria, but improvements have been seen since then.

The Seine will host several open-water swimming events during the games, including marathon swimming and the swimming legs of the Olympic and Paralympic triathlons.