Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo has promised that she'll take an "historic dip" in the River Seine in July in the days leading up to the 2024 Olympics.
Hidalgo’s “dip” symbolises the success of a key part of the city's Olympics legacy: the creation of three open-air bathing spots for the public.
"Everyone said it was impossible and we've done it," she told reporters at Paris City Hall on Wednesday.
Poor water quality
With the Seine at the heart of the Olympics action in July and August, authorities are rushing to clean the waterway so it can host the open-water swimming competition as well as the swimming leg of the triathlon.
State and local authorities in the Paris region have invested around €1.4 billion to make the Seine and the Marne, its main tributary, swimmable since 2016.
But poor water quality forced the cancellation of three swimming test events last July and August.
As of January, local authorities only have a few months left to finish key stormwater infrastructure and thousands of new sewer connections.
Chief organiser of the Paris Olympics, Tony Estanguet, has said that 84 percent of sporting infrastructure had been finished.
He added that organisers were on track to deliver "spectacular games" for the expected 10,000 athletes and millions of spectators.
Estanguet insisted Wednesday there were no plans to move the opening ceremony from the Seine amid speculation about the hugely ambitious water-based show.
Historic gesture
Hidalgo said her Seine swim comes "more than 30 years after Jacques Chirac's promise".
In 1990 the former French president, then mayor of Paris, promised to “bathe in the Seine in front of witnesses”.
However he never went ahead with the anticipated dip.
(with AFP)
