The mayor of Paris is adamant about using the Seine, a river in France, for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Despite concerns about the river's water safety levels, Mayor Anne Hidalgo says she'll go to the extremes of taking a dip into the water herself in order to prove the detractors wrong. On July 10, 2024, she spoke with France Inter radio, saying she'd “dive in next week” to swim in the Seine. She also assured that it would be “depolluted” by then.
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Swimming in the river has been banned.
Swimming in the Seine has mostly been banned since 1923, the Associated Press reported. As of mid-June, the river has failed its water quality test. It tested for having high levels of fecal bacteria including E. coli, which makes it rather unsafe for swimming, and anyone who goes into the water could risk getting diseases.
The mayor planned to invest €1.4 billion to clean up the river.
The mayor has invested €1.4 billion, or about $1.52 billion US, into a plan to clean up the river before the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, which is set for July 26, 2024. The mayor’s office also claimed that recent test results showed the Seine had acceptable levels of bacteria.
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Several Olympic events are supposed to take place on the river.
The Olympic triathlon and marathon swimming are scheduled to take place in the Seine. The opening ceremony is also set to take place there, featuring performances on vessels along the river.
France's president once promised to swim in the river.
In February, French President Emmanuel Macron promised to swim in the Seine to prove its safety. He never went through with that promise, according to the Associated Press.
People don't think the mayor should do it.
Commenters had a lot to say about the mayor's decree of swimming in the Seine.
"Please don’t lady. Don’t make yourself a martyr for the sake of proving a point," one person wrote.
"I was just there and that water is nasty," another person commented. "How they expect the swimmers to swim in that filth is beyond me."
