In an effort to dispel skeptics about whether the River Seine would be clean enough to host Olympic swimming competitions, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo finally went swimming in it on Wednesday.
Hidalgo made her plunge at around ten in the morning on a beautiful summer’s day in Paris, with tourists swarming the surrounding bridges to see her in the midst of multiple postponements owing to heavy rain and concerns over the cleanliness of the water.
Head of the Paris Olympics Organising Committee Tony Estanguet was among those who joined Hidalgo in the Seine, donning a wetsuit and goggles. She paddled at first, then swam front crawl, face down in the water.
After the swim, Hidalgo remarked, “We have worked very, very hard, and then you walk down into the water and it looks natural.” “The water is excellent, somewhat chilly.”
The Seine will host the Olympic triathlon and marathon swimming events from July 26 to August 11.
Based on the Eau de Paris water analysis and the most current Seine water quality bulletin from July 12, the water quality at the Olympic swimming sites would be suitable for swimming six days out of seven.
A technical committee comprising athletes, the international federation, local authorities, and Meteo France will make the decision about whether or not to hold Olympic events the previous evening and early the next morning.
“The announcement that the Seine can now be swum in and that the swimming and triathlon competitions can take place here is extremely significant—the first competitors will be here tomorrow,” Estanguet stated.
In order to restore the quality of the Seine for swimming, as it was at the 1900 Paris Olympics, Paris has been cleaning it up. In 1988, Jacques Chirac, the former mayor of Paris, made a vow to swim in the Seine “in the sight of witnesses,” but he never followed through on it.
Before the waste water travels via a tunnel to a treatment facility, the city constructed a massive storage basin that can hold 46,000 cubic meters of waste water. Poured into the Seine, the water will fulfill the necessary health standards.
The organizers have backup plans in case the river is determined to be unsuitable: the triathlon will become a duathlon, and the marathon swimming competition would move to Vaires-sur-Marne, the site of the rowing and canoeing competitions.
A 21-year-old visitor from New York named Jenn Fluet thought Hidalgo was courageous. When asked if Fluet would do the same, she said, “Hell no! It’s unclean.
A 33-year-old swimming club member who accompanied Hidalgo in the Seine, Quentin Mazars, said he “was careful not to take any water.”
A 66-year-old participant in an outdoor swimming club, Pierre Suzeau, came out of his swim energized.
“We are thrilled that swimming in an urban setting is now a possibility,” he stated. “We hope to be able to swim in the Seine and the canals very soon.”
Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, the French Minister of Sports, had already swum in the river on Saturday.
Leave a Reply