Anne Hidalgo keeps her promise and bathes in the Seine to prove that she is clean for the Olympics

The Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgobathed this Wednesday in the Seine river together with the president of the organizing committee of the Olympic Games, Tony Estanguet, to demonstrate that Its waters are now suitable to host the Olympic events planned there.

The mayor of the French capital, who described the waters of the Seine as “fresh” and “pleasant”, not only dived into them, but also swam dozens of metres.

Nine days before the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, Hidalgo kept the promise he made months ago and which had been postponed several times because the rains of recent months delayed the water from reaching levels suitable for bathing.

“Finally, today we are happy to see that we have achieved it,” stressed Hidalgo, who also announced that, in addition to the Olympic tests, Bathing in the Seine will be allowed next year“It’s an important legacy.”

The commitment to the Seine to celebrate the triathlon swimming test, July 30 for men, July 31 for women and August 5 for the mixed relay, as well as the open water marathons The men’s and women’s Games on 31 and 5 August are part of Paris 2024’s strategy to ensure that the capital’s most iconic venues host Games events.

To dispel any doubts about the suitability of this choice, Hidalgo appeared on the banks of the Seine at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday. Dressed in a short wetsuit and diving goggles, He arrived with the president of the Olympic Games organizing committee, Tony Estanguet, who was wearing a swimsuit and a black Paris 2024 T-shirt.

The councilor highlighted the success of cleaning the Seine, whose Bathing use has been banned for almost a century for health reasonsa challenge that has taken four years of intense work and coordination at different levels of the Administration.

The The Olympic Games “have been the accelerator” to clean up the Seine, Hidalgo said, but the underlying objective was to return the river to the citizens, in a context of the city’s adaptation to climate change.

“It’s for our quality of life today and tomorrow, for our children and for the oceans to be clean,” said Hidalgo.