After much ado and a €1.4 billion cleanup, Paris is set to bring swimming back to the River Seine. Following the Olympics triumph, where athletes turned the river into a sporting arena, the city plans to open three central sites next year. This bold move will allow experienced swimmers to dive into a tradition that’s been off-limits for a century. RFI quizzed some punters on whether they’d be tempted to make a splash in Paris's historically polluted waterway.
In the 17th century, Parisians frequently swam in the Seine, often in the nude, until authorities banned the practice. By 1923, all urban swimming in the Seine was prohibited for health and safety reasons due to increased river traffic in Paris.
