![See The Moment Mayor Of Paris Takes Her Long-Awaited Dip In The Seine](https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/6697832f2200008700fefe5b.jpeg?cache=XQzvPSR0U8&ops=1200_630)
See The Moment Mayor Of Paris Takes Her Long-Awaited Dip In The Seine
HuffPost
Anne Hidalgo swam in the river to vouch for its cleanliness for open-water Olympics events after months of concerns about unsafe levels of pollution.
PARIS (AP) — After months of anticipation, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo took a dip in the Seine River on Wednesday, fulfilling a promise she made months ago to show the river is clean enough to host open-swimming competitions during the 2024 Olympics — and the opening ceremony on the river nine days away.
Clad in a wetsuit, Hidalgo plunged into the river near the imposing-looking City Hall, her office, and the Notre Dame Cathedral. Paris 2024 chief Tony Estanguet and the top government official for the Paris region, Marc Guillaume, joined her.
“The water is very, very good. A little cool, but not so bad,’’ Hidalgo said upon emerging.
It’s part of a broader effort to showcase the river’s improved cleanliness ahead of the Summer Games which will kick off July 26 with a lavish open-air ceremony that includes an athletes’ parade on boats on the Seine. Daily water quality tests in early June indicated unsafe levels of E. coli bacteria, followed by recent improvements.
Since 2015, organizers have invested heavily — $1.5 billion — to prepare the Seine for the Olympics and to ensure Parisians have a cleaner river in the years after the Games. The plan included constructing a giant underground water storage basin in central Paris, renovating sewer infrastructure, and upgrading wastewater treatment plants.