Romantic strolls along the river Seine in Paris are iconic. It’s a beautiful spot for picnics, morning jogs à la Emily in Paris and leisurely cruises to catch the Eiffel Tower and other monuments. But swim? Oh, non non. We do not swim in ze river. But that could all change. 

Due to excessive pollution of its waters, swimming was officially banned in the river in 1923. Later in 1960 it was declared biologically dead and too toxic for anything to live in it. From 2025, this is about to change. And I’m not talking about Paris Plages – the temporary artificial beaches set up every year for summer. 

In preparation for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the city is cleaning up its act with a $2.3 billion project to create swimming spots in the Seine. The river was initially used for events in Paris’ first Olympics in 1900. Now 123 years later, the city is resurrecting the body of water for swimming and other aquatic activities.

Thank you, Olympic Games

For the first time in history, the 2024 Olympic Opening Ceremony will take place outside a stadium. In collaboration with river companies, athletes from five continents will parade on 116 boats down the Seine, set to sail on July 26, 2024.  Athletes will be the first to take the plunge for events including marathon swimming (10km), triathlon and paratriathlon.

Once the Games are over, there will be three bathing spots from 2025 including Bras Marie near the 4th arrondissement, Bras de Grenelle in the 15th and near the Parc de Bercy in the 12th. The city’s mayor, Anne Hidalgo, made the announcement from the Seine’s banks with her deputy mayors jumping into the river for a dip.  The areas will be patrolled and marked with buoys and a pontoon. Facilities are also planned such as changing rooms, showers and lockers for Parisians and tourists to store their gear.

Ask any Parisian and they’ll tell you swimming in the river has always been promised, but never delivered. Used as a political ping pong, mayors and even president Jacques Chirac have been promising it for ages.

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Keeping it clean

To sanitise the river, the council is rolling out two treatment plants and a 50,000m rainwater storage basin in Austerlitz. Results so far are encouraging with water quality tests showing with an “excellent” rating, benchmarked against European regulations.  To maintain its swimming potential, the city has been cracking down on homes, boats and businesses emptying wastewater into the river by implementing new laws.

Only after periods of particularly heavy rain will the water quality be unacceptable. But even then, authorities say it will only be for a relatively short time. Testing will be carried out daily when the river is officially opened to ensure it is swimmable. “It will create waves, so to speak, across the world because a lot of cities are watching Paris,” said Dan Angelescu to Euro News. Angelescu is a scientist tracking the Seine’s water quality for the City Hall with regular sampling. With global warming and Paris facing summer temperatures of 50C by 2050, swimming in the Seine is essential to make living in the city tolerable. 

Would you swim in the Seine?

The French wouldn’t be French without a little protest and scepticism.“I’d come out dirtier than before I went in,” joked a Parisian. “I will once enough people do it first, then I will try,” says another in a Reuters report. Long considered as completely repulsive, time will tell whether Parisians will dive in. 

This story originally appeared on news.com.au. It has been reproduced here with permission.

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