Seine-Chinational News or Splashy Miss? That’s a question that swirls between Parisians and visitors as city officials first resumed public swimming for over a century on July 5th. The infamous, polluted, lewd waterway has been off limits since 1923. Paris pledged to clean up $1.5 billion (€1.4 billion) to host the 2024 Summer Olympics, but until this year the river remained closed to the public. Currently, three free swimming spots have opened along Riverbank. One is near Notre Dame Cathedral and the other is one-third of the 12th Allendisment near Eiffel Tower and Simone de Beauvoir Foot Bridge.
Paris’ ambitious efforts to revive the Seine, a 19th-century human waste dump, began in the 1990s, and in 2015, the Greater Paris Health Authority created a plan to make the Seines safe for swimmers by 2024, in time for the Summer Olympics. Baptistrolland, the chief of staff and chief of staff, said at a press conference posted on the government’s Instagram account that nearly 280 projects will crack down on waste, in order to modernize sewer systems, improve infrastructure, throw waste into rivers and instead develop connections with the city’s main sewer systems.
Whether the effort would be successful seemed doubtful even just a month before the Olympics. Elevated levels of E. coli were discovered shortly before the opening ceremony. But after an additional cleanup effort by Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, who dipped on July 17, 2024 to prove the river’s safety, and a high-dive spectacle to prove the river’s safety, the city has made it happen. The Seine not only provided a stunning backdrop for the opening ceremony of the Olympics, but also hosted several swimming events. The following year, authorities continued to test the water, adapting to seasonal changes and climate-driven storms, and completing construction of a new public swimming deck. Currently, these public areas are open in time for the summer, and all residents and travelers are invited to try the water. By 2028, its purpose is to allow swimming along further stretches in the Seine.
“Personally, I felt the river was safe and clean to swim,” says Tanishuk Saha, France24 social media reporter. Saha made a splash by diving into herself on the first day, reporting on the English news outlet. While on the scene he spoke with the vice mayor of Paris, Pierre Labadin.
“It was warmer than I expected, but it was clear and there was a safety mechanism in place,” he wrote on WhatsApp. “For example, the day after I went for a swim, rain fell in Paris and the swimming was stopped (the rainfall affects the authorities’ ability to ensure that the water quality is sufficient to swim),” Saha added that he definitely went again and recommended it to his friends.
However, some Parisians are still reluctant to be on the plunge. “There’s no way to swim in the Seine,” says Sébastien Caron, CEO and founder of Paris-based map app Mapsstr. “Save laps for real beaches and filtered pools.” He trembles at the thought of a storm that transforms the river into what it calls “open sewer” as heavy rain is known to overwhelm the city’s outdated sewer system and floods the Seine with contaminated water.
The Surfrider Foundation, a US-based nonprofit specializing in protecting oceans and beaches around the world, says it is pleased with the efforts the city has made to closely monitor river water quality and mitigate pollution for Olympic games. However, the group hopes to advance more comprehensive measures. “Only bacterial contamination is considered,” says Carla Araya of Surfrider Media Relations Assistant Assistant Europe. “For example, chemical and plastic contamination are not considered. It may be interesting to broaden the parameters being monitored to better determine whether water quality is really good.”
There were obviously some wins. According to the Greater Paris Department of Health, 36 species of fish currently live in the Seine River since three in 1970. “It’s more important than people swimming in the river,” says Lily Heys, a Canadian author who has lived in Paris since 2000. And healthy. ”
For now, the Seine transformation doesn’t seem to be exactly a winning lap, but at least it’s a positive first stroke.
