The mayor of Paris bathes in the Seine with Tony Estanguet before the Games

The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgobathed this Wednesday in the Seine River with the president of the organizing committee of Olympic Games, Tony Estanguetto show that its water, “fresh” and very “pleasant” according to the first mayor, is now suitable to host olympic trials given to them.

Nine days before the opening ceremony, which will also take place on the Seine as a stage and will be the first Olympic opening held outside a stadium, The socialist mayor kept the promise he made months ago and had to be postponed in some cases because the rains of the last few months delayed the water’s adaptation to levels suitable for bathing.

“Finally today we are happy to see that we have reached it“Hidalgo highlighted after not only dive into the river, but also swim a few dozen meters. “Of course it will allow the Olympic Games exam, of course it will allow swimming next year. This is an important legacy,” he stressed.

As the Minister of Sports did, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, Last Saturday, with this initiative, the French authorities sought to clarify one of the unknowns before Paris 2024: whether the good bet of holding the events in the open water marathon and the swimming would finally be good triathlon segment there.

Hidalgo appeared at the Seine docks around 10:00 am (8:00 GMT), wearing a short wetsuit and diving goggles, along with Estanguet, who was wearing a swimsuit and a black Paris 2024 t-shirt.

They were joined in the water by the Councilor for Sports of the Paris City Council, Pierre Rabadan, and the prefect (government delegate) of the Paris region of Île-de-France, Marc Guillaume.

Olympic legacy in the face of climate change

The mayor was the first to enter the water, which he later described as very “pleasant” and “fresh”, even a bit “transparent”, despite the fact that this Wednesday there was a certain current.

“scary” the word he used Estanguet to describe the immersion, in press statements, in addition to highlighting that it represents a “very important message to all athletes.”

It is a “challenge” that is “not simple,” both agreed, noting that the recovery of the Seine – after almost a century in which bathing was not allowed for health reasons – was a challenge that took four years of work. intensity and coordination at different levels of Administration.

The Games “became the accelerator” to clean up the SeineHidalgo said, but the main goal is to return the river to the citizens, in the context of the city’s adaptation to climate change. “This is for the quality of our lives today and tomorrow, for our children and for the ocean to be clean,” Hidalgo insisted.

For Estanguet, “decontaminating a river is a very important symbol” in the fight against climate change, which will allow, at the same time, to both cool down during heat waves and practice sports in the four points to be enabled for bathing for all people starting next summer.

After Hidalgo, Estanguet, Rabadan and Guillaume, dozens of people also jumped into the water to celebrate the cleaning of the Seine and even took the opportunity to practice sports such as water polo in small groups.

The commitment to the Seine to celebrate the triathlon swimming event, on July 30 for men, on the 31st for women and on August 5 for the mixed relay, as well as the women’s and men’s open water marathons on the 31 and August 5, are part of the Paris 2024 strategy so that the most popular places in the capital will host Games events.

The administration has invested 1.4 billion euros since 2016 in an ambitious plan to allow bathing that includes, among other works, the construction of giant tanks.

These will, above all, prevent sewage water from entering the river and contaminating it, without passing through treatment plants during periods of heavy rain.

Exactly, the heavier than usual rainfall in recent months is the reason why the river has been delayed from being suitable for bathing a little more than expected this summer, because otherwise the high presence of bacteria like of Escherichia coli (E. coli) can cause diseases such as severe. gastroenteritis.