Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo took a dip in the Seine to show that the river is clean enough for Olympic swimming events. She did a breaststroke and a front crawl for around 100 meters.
She was accompanied by Tony Estanguet, a former canoeist and principal organizer of the Paris Games. According to sportsbook software experts, Estanguet has been anxiously monitoring the situation of the Seine in the lead-up to next week’s inauguration of the games.
The swimming portions of the Olympic triathlon are scheduled for July 30-31 and August 5, with the open-water swimming events on August 8-9. Until this month, the river’s water quality tests had been consistently failing despite a $1.4 billion expenditure to stop sewage leaks into the river.
More than 150 journalists attended Wednesday’s dive, which confirmed that the river was prepared and highlighted what is hoped to be a significant legacy achievement of Paris 2024. Even though swimming was outlawed in the city a century ago, Hidalgo intends to build three public bathing sites in the Seine for the inhabitants next year. Meanwhile, more fish and other creatures are returning to the canal.
Paris Mayor Tests Seine’s Water
Water testing revealed that E.Coli bacteria, a crucial indication of fecal matter, were occasionally up to ten times higher than permissible levels. As a result, Hidalgo postponed her initial plan to swim last month. Some people who bet on the Summer Olympics made prop bets on whether she will swim.
Memes and jokes about her swim quickly spread over social media. One viral image, created using artificial intelligence, compared her to the wrinkly figure Gollum from the Lord of the Rings films. A group used the hashtag #jechiedanslaSeine as a form of protest against the mayor. Also, they urged people to poop in the river upstream.
President Emmanuel Macron, who had pledged to join the Seine bathers, was notably absent on Wednesday. Macron was preoccupied with political turmoil following his decision to call for immediate legislative elections last month. Olympic outdoor swimming events, like the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games and the 2021 Tokyo Games, have had issues with site selection.
New Water Treatment for the Olympics
French authorities have spent much money on new water treatment and storage facilities near Paris. They’ve also connected thousands of residences and canal boats that didn’t have sewage connections to the sewerage system. However, the Paris underground wastewater system is still overwhelmed by big storms, forcing emergency releases of raw sewage into the Seine.
Events like the triathlon and open-water swimming at the Olympics are still highly dependent on the weather. Assuming the worst-case scenario, the triathlon’s swimming portion would not go forward, but the open-water portion may be relocated from the Seine to a body of water east of Paris.
Conditions for the opening ceremony, which takes place on the banks of the Seine and includes the sailing of thousands of competitors, have been severely affected by the heavy rains that fell in May and June. Due to the intensity of the currents, the organizers have had to postpone rehearsals constantly.
The present flow of the Seine is over 400 m3/s, which is significantly higher than the typical level for this time of year, which is typically around 100-150 m3/s.
Many people are now preparing their picks for betting on the Paris Olympics. Sportsbooks are already accepting wagers on the events for this Summer Games.
