July 17 Trial Swimming
Deputy Mayor "Seine River Water Quality Improvement"
The Mayor of Paris will enter the Seine River. This is to personally prove that there are no water quality issues in the Seine ahead of the opening of the '2024 Paris Olympics.'
On the 12th (local time), foreign media reported that Mayor Anne Hidalgo's trial swim was scheduled for the 17th. Originally, she was supposed to jump into the Seine on the 23rd of last month, but the schedule was postponed due to water quality issues and the fast current. During the Olympic and Paralympic Games, triathlon swimming events and open water swimming, known as the 'swimming marathon,' will be held in the sections between the Pont Alexandre III and Pont de l'Alma on the Seine. No heavy rain is forecast before the Olympics begin.
Earlier, Pierre Rabadan, Deputy Mayor in charge of the Olympics for the City of Paris, told RFI radio, "The Seine's water quality met the swimming suitability standards from the 10th to the 11th of this month."
However, controversy has persisted over whether the Seine's water quality is appropriate for hosting swimming competitions. Due to the aging Paris sewage system, until last month when it rained frequently, untreated sewage flowed into the Seine, resulting in the detection of coliform bacteria and enterococci above the standard levels.
Moreover, in Paris, a threatening campaign called 'Let's poop in the Seine' even emerged. Angry Paris residents, frustrated that the government and city were only focusing on the Olympics, incited citizens to pollute the Seine with the hashtag '#JeChieDansLaSeineLe23Juin' (I poop in the Seine on June 23). This was the day Mayor Hidalgo was scheduled to enter the river.
Citizens mocked French President Emmanuel Macron and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, who declared they would swim in the Seine to prove its cleanliness, saying, "They threw us into the poop, and now it's their turn to fall into our poop." They also provided a calculation tool that, by inputting how far from the city center the poop is released, shows when the waste would reach the center on the day the mayor promised to swim.
However, Mayor Hidalgo canceled the originally promised swim on the 23rd of last month due to the rising river level and stated, "I will keep my promise before the Olympics open."
At least 1.4 billion euros (approximately 2.08 trillion KRW) have reportedly been spent on the Seine water purification project so far. Analysis of samples taken from the Seine on the 4th showed improvement to a level suitable for swimming, but whether this will be maintained until the event depends on the weather. If heavy rain pours before the event, rainwater and sewage could mix into the Seine, contaminating the water.
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