The mayor of the French capital Anne Hidalgo is set to take a long-awaited dip in the Seine on Wednesday to demonstrate the river is clean enough to host the outdoor swimming events at the Paris Olympics, her office said.
Despite an investment of 1.4 billion euros ($1.5 billion) to prevent sewage leaks into the waterway, the Seine has been causing suspense in the run-up to the opening of Paris Games next week after repeatedly failing water quality tests.
Only since the beginning of the month, with heavy rains finally giving way to drier weather, have samples shown the river to be ready for the open-water swimming and triathlon — and for 65-year-old Hidalgo.
“On the eve of the Games, when the Seine will play a key role, this event represents the demonstration of the efforts made by the city and the state to improve the quality of the Seine’s waters and the ecological state of the river,” Hidalgo’s office said in a statement.
The Socialist city leader had originally planned to swim last month, but had to delay because bacteria levels indicating the presence of faecal matter were sometimes 10 times higher than authorised limits.
She will take to the water along with chief Paris Games organiser Tony Estanguet, a former canoeist, and the top security official for the greater Paris region, Marc Guillaume.
An open-water swimming race has been organised afterwards.
President Emmanuel Macron, who had promised to join the Seine bathers, will be a notable absentee, with the head of state occupied by a political crisis caused by his decision to call snap parliamentary elections last month.
The Seine is set to be used for the swimming leg of the Olympics triathlon on July 30-31 and August 5, as well as the open-water swimming on August 8-9.
Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera became the first public figure to splash into the Seine on Saturday, with videos of her slipping on a walkway into the water while wearing a full wet-suit going viral on social media.