Paris's Mayor Swam In The City's Main River To Prove It's Clean Enough For The Olympics Just Weeks After A Poop Protest Was Threatened
1.On July 17, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo finally swam in the River Seine.
2.According to the Athletic, her long-awaited dip was part of an effort to prove that the river cutting through the heart of Paris is safe for the athletes to compete in during the Olympics.
3.The river will host triathlon and marathon swimming events during the Olympics and the Paralympics, which kick off on July 26.
4.Hidalgo was joined Wednesday for a swim by two Paris 2024 officials: deputy for sport Pierre Rabadan and head of the organizing committee Tony Estanguet. Île-de-France region prefect Marc Guillaume also took a dip in the river.
5.The Seine has long been notoriously unsafe to swim in.
6.In fact, according to the Associated Press, swimming in the river was banned in 1923 because of pollution.
7.According to a June NBC News report, Hidalgo was supposed to swim in the river last month but delayed her swim, citing "weather" as well as "demands" of France's snap election.
8.Concerns about the river's viability for Olympic events remain active. According to CNN, the presence of E. coli in the river exceeded acceptable levels between June 3 and July 2 but was acceptable last week.
9.Significant efforts have been made to clean up the river ahead of the Olympics.
10.The AP reports that $1.5 billion was spent on infrastructure to catch contaminated stormwater before it drained into the river.
11.According to USA Today, some Parisians are upset with the amount of money devoted to the cleanup efforts, which have had limited success, as well as the general stress the Olympics will cause the city. This has led to an online push to defecate in the river, though it's unclear how serious this possible protest action is.
12.Following the swim, according to CNN, Hidalgo told reporters, "It's very, very cool to be here and it was a dream and now it's real...after the Games we will have a swimming pool in the river for all the people, for the Parisian people and for the tourists also."
