Paris mayor swims in Seine ahead of Olympic Games opening
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Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo is seen swimming in the river Seine on July 17. Photo: Pierre Suu/Getty Images
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo took her long-promised swim in the River Seine Wednesday in an effort to demonstrate the river's cleanliness ahead of the opening of the Paris Games next week.
Why it matters: France's long and costly effort to clean up the Seine in order to host swimming competitions during the Games had become an ongoing and disappointing saga.
- Hidalgo's pledge to swim in the Seine was postponed several times in recent weeks due to persistently high bacteria levels in the river as well as French President Emmanuel Macron's move to hold snap parliamentary elections last month.
- However, bacteria levels in the water had recently improved, making Wednesday's swim possible.
The big picture: "It's a happy day. We did it! " Hidalgo told reporters Wednesday, Le Monde reported. "We worked hard to make the Seine clean and suitable for swimming."
- Hidalgo was joined on her dip by Tony Estanguet, president of the Paris 2024 organizing committee, and other officials.
- Last weekend, French Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra became the first major French official to swim in the Seine, per the Washington Post.
- Macron, who had also promised to swim in the Seine ahead of the Paris Games, was notably absent on Wednesday.
State of play: Swimming in the Seine had been banned since 1923 due to the river's pollution levels.
- Over the past few years, the Seine has undergone a a $1.5 billion cleanup effort in preparation for the Olympics. The first swimming events are set to take place in the river on July 30.
- However, rain can quickly cause bacteria levels in the Seine to spike. If that happens shortly before the events, they'll either be postponed or moved to another site, per France Info.
Zoom out: Swimming in the Seine has been a long-held dream for French politicians.
- Back in the 1990s, then-Mayor Jacques Chirac similarly promised to clean up the Seine for swimming, but it never came to pass.
- "Jacques Chirac dreamt it, Anne Hidalgo did it! A promise made, a promise kept. It will be a wonderful legacy for Parisians," Anouch Toranian, deputy mayor of Paris, wrote on X Wednesday alongside photos and videos of Hidalgo's swim.
Go deeper: Seine remains too polluted to host swimming events at Paris Olympics
