Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo took the plunge on July 17 when she jumped into the river Seine in Paris to show the water was clean enough to host Olympic swimming events starting later this month.
Hidalgo is the latest VIP to cleave through the river’s murky waters, after Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera on Saturday.
Constructive measures: Paris Mayor Hidalgo is keen to see swimming in the Seine at the Paris Games. | Photo Credit: AFP
Despite a major clean-up, many Parisians still recoil at the idea of swimming in a river that regularly tests for high levels of bacteria caused by faecal matter.
Also read: Paris mayor will swim in Seine River to prove cleanliness ahead of Olympics
But up until 1923, when it was banned due to pollution and the danger from passing river barges, it was a popular pastime.
Here is a brief history of Seine swimming. In the 17th century, before the revolution that toppled France’s monarchy, bathing in the Seine was a fashionable pastime. By the end of the century Seine swimming remained popular, with floating pools installed along the banks.
Some diehards continued to slip on their speedos until the practice was officially banned in 1923.
Current Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo revived the dream when bidding for the French capital to get the 2024 Games, promising swimming events in the Seine.
Massive investment
Some €1.4 billion ($1.5 billion) has been invested to make the Seine and its main tributary, the Marne, swimmable, notably by improving waste water collection management.
A key feature of the project involved building a massive underground rainwater storage tank near Austerlitz train station to hold excess waste water to ensure it does not flow into the Seine.
The swimming leg of the Olympics triathlon is set to take place in its waters on July 30-31 and August 5, followed by the open-water swimming on August 8 and 9.
