Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo took a famous dip in the river less than two weeks before Olympic events were set to start, hoping to prove that the infamously polluted waterway was clean enough to host swimming competitions.
A 2024 Olympics pre-race triathlon event which was planned to take place in Paris’ Seine River was cancelled as concerns were risen over water quality.
Organisers said they removed the swimming leg of the triathlon familiarisation scheduled for Sunday after a meeting about water quality among authorities tasked with carrying out tests.
Questions over the river’s cleanliness were revived after heavy rain befell the city during the Olympics opening ceremony as the water quality is linked to the French capital’s weather.
Swimming in the Seine has been banned for over a century in big part due to poor water quality. Organisers of the Olympic games have invested €1.3 billion to prepare the Seine for the Games.
The French government has said the river would be clean enough to hold events, including the swimming portion of the triathlon and the marathon swimming event.
Mayor Anne Hidalgo took a dip in the famous river less than two weeks before the games were set to start hoping to show onlookers that the water was safe enough to swim in.
Since 2015, organisers have invested heavily to prepare the Seine for the Olympics and to ensure Parisians have a cleaner river after the Games.
The plan included constructing a giant underground water storage basin in central Paris, renovating sewer infrastructure and upgrading wastewater treatment plants.
“Hopefully we get to swim, bike and run because I don’t swim this much to just run and bike,” American triathlete Taylor Spivey said at a news conference Saturday.
