Paris mayor finally swims in Seine to showcase cleanliness for Olympics

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo swam in the River Seine, fulfilling a promise to try to convince doubters that its waters will be clean enough to hold Olympic swimming events.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo finally swam in the River Seine on Wednesday, fulfilling a promise to try to convince doubters that its waters will be clean enough to hold Olympic swimming events.

Hidalgo took the plunge around 10 a.m. on a glorious summer’s day in Paris, with visitors crowding on nearby bridges to catch a glimpse of her after several postponements due to heavy rain and doubts about water quality.

Hidalgo, clad in a wetsuit and goggles, was joined in the Seine by Tony Estanguet, the head of the Paris Olympics Organizing Committee, among others. At first she paddled and then swam front crawl with her face in the water.

“We have worked very, very hard and then you go down into the water and it seems natural,” Hidalgo said after the swim. “The water is very, very good, a little bit cool.”

The triathlon and marathon swimming legs of the Olympics, which run from July 26 to Aug. 11, are due to be held in the Seine. According to the most recent July 12 Seine water quality bulletin, based on the Eau de Paris water analysis, the water quality would be suitable for swimming in six out of seven days at the Olympics swimming sites.

Decisions on whether to run Olympics events will be taken the night before, and early that same morning, with a technical committee including athletes, international federation, regional authorities and Meteo France making the call.

“The first athletes are arriving tomorrow, and so this is a very important message that, finally, the Seine is swimmable, and the triathlon and swimming events can be held here,” Estanguet said.

Paris has been working on cleaning up the Seine so that people can swim in it again, as was the case during the 1900 Paris Olympics. Former Paris Mayor Jacques Chirac in 1988 promised he would swim in the Seine “in the presence of witnesses,” but his plunge never materialized.