Ahead of the Olympics, as water quality controversy grows... Paris Mayor says "I will swim in the Seine River"

Possibility of President Macron Joining in the Swim

As criticism continues that the Seine River in Paris, France, is unsuitable for swimming, Anne Hidalgo, the Mayor of Paris, has decided to swim in the river herself ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics.

On August 18 last year, athletes were diving at the men's triathlon Olympic test event held at the Seine River in Paris, France. Swimming competitions were not held on the 19th and 20th for two days due to the deterioration of the Seine River's water quality to protect the athletes' health. [Image source=AFP Yonhap News]

On the 23rd, Yonhap News quoted the daily newspaper Le Parisien reporting that Mayor Hidalgo will jump into the Seine on July 23, a month before the Olympics, along with Laurent Nunez, the head of the Paris Police Department, and others. With ongoing concerns that the water quality of the Seine is unsuitable for Olympic swimming events, the mayor intends to personally enter the river to demonstrate its safety.

The Seine will host the triathlon swimming events and open water swimming, known as the "swimming marathon," for this year's Olympic and Paralympic Games. Furthermore, starting next year, swimming by the general public will be officially permitted in certain sections of the Seine for the first time in over a century. While swimming competitions were held in the Seine during the 1900 Paris Olympics, water pollution caused by industrialization led to a ban on public swimming from 1923 onward.

Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris (center), is taking a commemorative photo with swimmers after announcing the plan to allow swimming in the Seine River in 2025 on July 9 last year (local time).
[Image source=AFP Yonhap News]

To address this, the City of Paris has invested 1.4 billion euros (approximately 2.05 trillion KRW) in modernizing sewage treatment facilities and constructing large-scale wastewater storage tanks to improve water quality. However, the Surfrider Foundation, an organization monitoring water quality for sports and leisure, collected samples over six months from the competition area between late last year and early this year, analyzing levels of E. coli and enterococci bacteria. The results showed bacteria concentrations exceeding swimming safety standards. Swimming in such conditions could cause athletes to suffer from vomiting, abdominal pain, and headaches. Despite significant concerns about the health and safety of athletes, the City of Paris and the Paris Olympic Organizing Committee plan to complete water purification efforts before the Games and proceed with swimming events in the Seine as scheduled.

Last month, President Emmanuel Macron also expressed confidence, saying, "Other venues are not yet fully ready either," but assured that "water quality improvement work will be completed before the Olympic opening ceremony." Moreover, since President Macron has also declared his intention to swim in the Seine, there is a possibility he will join Mayor Hidalgo in the river next month. A close aide to President Macron did not provide a definitive answer but stated, "(The President) will actually swim in the Seine before the Olympics."