Swimming in Seine will be allowed in Paris after a 100-year break
The authorities of Paris intend to allow bathing in the Seine after a 100-year break. The mayor of the French capital, Anne Hidalgo, confirmed that in 2025 three zones for swimming in the Seine will be opened in the city. After the completion of the cleaning works on the river, urban swimming will become one of the main achievements of the 2024 Olympics. According to the program of the Games, three Olympic and Paralympic competitions are planned to be held on the capital's river - triathlon, marathon swimming and paratriathlon, the newspaper Le Parisien writes.
After the Olympics, three open-air swimming areas will be available from the embankment, These places - opposite the Saint-Louis Island in the city center, at the Grenelle embankment in the 15th arrondissement in the west and in Bercy in the eastern 12th arrondissement - will be marked with buoys, and they will be patrolled by rescuers. Pontoons will also be brought to the bathing areas, places will be equipped on the embankments where bathers will be able to change clothes, take a shower and leave things for storage, the mayor's office said in a statement.
1.4 billion euros have been allocated for a large–scale project to purify the waters of the main river of the French capital – it is planned to build a huge reservoir with a depth of 34 meters and a width of 50 meters - by volume it is 20 Olympic swimming pools.
The ban on bathing in the Seine was introduced in 1923 because of the danger posed by barges and pleasure craft, as well as due to the rapidly deteriorating water quality. At the same time, the annual Christmas swimming competitions across the river existed until the Second World War.
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