Macron and Hidalgo want to bathe in the Seine to show that it is clean. There are those who have another idea: defecate upstream

Less than two months before the starting gun of the Paris Olympic Games, there are quite a few people, especially in France, concerned about something that has little to do with the level of the athletes, the records to be broken or which country will reap the most golds. His attention is focused on the Sena. Its waters, to be precise. Although France wants to give the river a leading role during the Olympic event and has invested good money to make it happen, there are many voices that question its “state of health.”

To remove doubts, the mayor of Paris and the president of France are already planning to emulate Fraga in Palomares and take a dip. The problem is that there are those who have very different plans: take advantage of that same day to defecate upstream.

The Seine River, under examination. That the Seine is a river full of corners instagrammable no one doubts it. Cleaning it is another story. A year ago the organizers decided to cancel the swimming test of a Paralympic triathlon and the World Cup open water swimming, both planned in the Seine, because their analyzes did not reach the required minimum health standards. “The quality of the water has remained below acceptable levels for the health of swimmers,” explained the federation. That wasn’t even 11 months ago.

In recent months Surfride Foundation France carried out new bacteriological analyzes and obtained measurements that, he claims, are “alarming”, with concentrations of fecal waste “above the recommended thresholds.” Such is the situation that since 1923 swimming in the Seine as it passes through the French capital has been prohibited, although the newspaper The Figaro remember that at that time the decision was taken mainly because of the risks involved in river traffic.

The river of the Olympic Games. Despite these precedents, France has wanted the Seine to be in the Paris Olympic Games. And not playing a minor role, precisely. The idea –at least as of today— is that during the opening ceremony 10,500 athletes parade through its waters aboard boats that will represent each national delegation. That’s without taking into account that the Sena will welcome he swimming marathon and will be included in the triathlons Olympic and Paralympic.

Rain of millions… and efforts. To comply with these forecasts, the French authorities have not hesitated to go all out. There is talk of a project 1.4 billion of euros that seeks to guarantee good water quality during the Olympic Games and return the Seine to the residents of Paris, an idea that has been on the table for decades, at least since the times of Jacques Chirac at the head of the capital’s mayor’s office, at the end of the 1980s.

A month ago the authorities, including the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo; The French Minister of Sports and the president of the Olympic organizing committee inaugurated a huge reservoir in Paris created precisely to improve the quality of the Seine. The pond, excavated near the Austerlitz station and with a capacity equivalent to 20 Olympic swimming poolshas been designed to collect excess water from rain and prevent the residual liquid from being discharged into the river.

But… Will it be enough? During the inauguration of the warehouse, Marc Guillaume, prefect of the Paris region, spoke of a “collective success” and guaranteed that the quality of the Seine would be adequate for the Games. Neither his words nor those of the rest of the French authorities have served to clear up doubts about whether the Sena is the best option for athletes. Australia now Has offered its athletes with measures to ensure their health during events, such as antibacterial solutions for eyes and skin, and medications to prevent intestinal problems.

And that has not been the only decision that suggests that the quality of the Seine’s water still arouses suspicion. Yesterday Radio France revealed that the French open water swimming team has decided to postpone the training scheduled for Monday in the Seine. The reason: the poor water quality after the rains in May, which caused the sewers to overflow, and the high flow of the river.

Following the example of Fraga. If Manuel Fraga demonstrated anything with his very famous bath in Palomares, it is that an image is worth a thousand words or, given the case, a thousand promises about the healthiness of the water. The French authorities have decided to follow his example and dive into the Seine to shut their mouths.

TO beginning of the year President Emmanuel Macron assured that she would bathe in the river, although without specifying dates, and more recently it was the mayor of Paris who has promised that she will go into the waters of the river together with the prefect of the Paris police and the prefect of the Île-region. de-France. And in her case, a very specific date is noted… and soon: Sunday, June 23, Olympic Day.

Will Macron attend? The news has been echoed by the country’s main media, such as Le Monde and Le Parisian, which when the news broke weeks ago, slipped in a suggestive idea: Macron himself could join the bath of authorities in the Seine. The Parisian newspaper tried to confirm the news with the leader’s cabinet, but from the Elysee Palace it only received two ideas: the first, that they could not advance Macron’s agenda so far in advance; the second, that the President of the Republic will “swim in the Seine” coinciding with the Games.

Recalculating on the fly. Yesterday Le Parisian updated his own information and clarified that, citing Agence France-Presse, that the date of the Hidalgo dip could be postponed for the same reasons that the French swimming team will not be able to swim in the Seine on Monday: the effects of the May rains .

In any case, the Parisian newspaper maintains that the mayor will test the quality of the Seine in her flesh. And in fact, the most likely date for his media splash is June 30. Still on the table Macron’s promise and even that of the president of the IOC, who also has shown himself willing.

“I’ll shit in the Seine”. Anne Hidalgo, the authorities of the region, the president of the IOC and even Macron may propose bathing in the Seine to clear up doubts about the quality of its waters, but in France there are those who have a quite different idea in mind: what they propose is defecating upstream. Literally.

With this purpose they have launched the motto “Je Chie Dans La Seine Le 23 Juin”, which could be translated as something like “I will shit in the Seine on June 23.” The date, of course, is not the result of chance: it coincides with the day of the announced bathing of Hidalgo and the rest of the authorities in the Sena. Chanza, vindication or political activism, one thing is clear: regardless of the success of the idea, its promoters have aroused interest.

A calculator for “gifts”. The hashtag #JeChieDansLaSeineLe23Juin circulates in x, TikTok and instagram and media outlets such as Yahoo! News either SBS News. What’s more, it has even been created a website with a countdown and a peculiar calculator that allows you to calculate how far in advance you should defecate in the Seine so that, depending on the point at which you do it, “your gift” arrives in Paris in time for the event on Sunday, June 23.

It remains to be seen if its promoters will now reconsider the date of 23H and, of course, if the proposal will remain on paper, as a challenging idea, or will be put into practice. So far they have achieved something: focusing (even more) on the quality of the Seine waters and its regeneration process.

Who’s behind? That question was asked recently on France 3 channel, although without achieving too many answers. They do specify that the first message was published on

“It could be a large account that spreads it, or it could be a viral movement, with small accounts sharing it, before sharing it themselves. It could be something that happens every day, simply because a community, political or not , takes over the topic”, comments to the chainFlef Graph, analyst.

Graph remembers that the first tweet was shared about 16,000 times in a very short time. And he specifies that, although this is not a striking fact for However, the expert is cautious about the success of the call. “A real movement would reach 50,000 to 100,000 messages at first, and then a million quickly.”

Images | J. Shim (Unsplash)

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