The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, went for a swim in the Seine. She wanted to show that the river is clean enough for the open water swimming competitions planned there during the Olympic Games.
17.07.2024, 12:47
17.07.2024, 14:45
SDA
Not far from the city hall, the mayor entered the Seine together with Tony Estanguet, the head of the Parisian organization of the Games. Swimming and crawling, the two tested the quality of the water in perfect summer weather. Many onlookers and media followed the swim, which was also attended by the prefect of the Île-de-France capital region, Marc Guillaume. The Olympic Games will open on July 26.
For a long time, there was debate in Paris as to whether the quality of the water was really good enough for the Olympic swimmers to dive into for their open water competitions. 1.4 billion euros have been invested in wastewater treatment plants and the sewage system in the greater Paris area in recent years to improve the water quality. Among other things, this now prevents toilet wastewater from entering the river during heavy rainfall.
The fact that the water quality nevertheless left a lot to be desired for a long time in recent months after the checks was carried out was explained by the city with the unusually damp weather and low temperatures. This is because at higher temperatures and lower water levels in the Seine, pathogens are broken down more quickly.
With summer temperatures, the water quality has recently improved considerably and there were only isolated readings that were not within the limit. "We have no doubt that we will be able to hold the competitions on the scheduled date," said Pierre Rabadan, the deputy mayor of Paris responsible for the Olympic Games, a few days ago.
