France’s sports minister has swum in the River Seine, with authorities hoping the move will show it is clean enough to stage swimming events at the Olympics.
Amelie Oudea Castera took the plunge into the capital’s famous river, where she was joined in the water by Paralympic triathlon champion Alexis Hanquinquant, who won gold in the men’s PTS4 event at Tokyo 2020.
Amid polllution concerns, Ms Oudea Castera posted a video on X of her diving in near the Alexandre III and Invalides bridges in Paris on Saturday, along with photos of her and the athlete clasping hands in and out of the water.
A caption in the post read: “Promise kept! [along with a swimmer emoji].
“With @AHanquinquant, our Paralympic triathlon champion, who celebrated his role as flag bearer at Paris.”
The triathlon and marathon swimming legs are scheduled to take place in the Seine near the Alexandre III bridge during the Olympics, which run from 26 July to 11 August, and the Paralympics, which are from 28 August to 8 September.
France’s President Emmanuel Macron and Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo have said they will swim in the waterway to show their citizens and visiting athletes that all is well.
Ms Hidalgo initially planned to swim in the Seine last month – prompting an online campaign by her critics threatening to defecate in the river on the day of her dip.
But she postponed the swim after Mr Macron announced snap legislative elections that have plunged France into political tensions and eclipsed pre-Olympic excitement for many people.
Ms Oudea Castera and Paralympic triathlon champion Alexis Hanquinquant. Pic: X
The mayor said on Wednesday that she would swim in the river in the coming days in a bid to show its suitability for the games.
She told France Inter radio that she would “dive in next week” and the water would be “depolluted, that’s for sure”.
Mr Macron has yet to announce a date for him to take a dip.
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Late last month into July, unsafe levels of E.coli were found in the river for a third successive week.
The test results by monitoring group Eau de Paris showed that for all but one day from 26 June to 2 July, contamination levels were below the safe limit of 900 colony-forming units per 100 millilitres determined by the World Triathlon Federation for competitions.
But later, regional authorities released new results showing an improvement.
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Some recent tests have shown acceptable bacteria levels, according to a statement from the mayor’s office.
However, despite a €1.4bn (£1.18bn) clean-up plan, concerns remain over the river’s suitability for swimming events.
“No reasons to doubt,” International Olympic Committee executive Christophe Dubi said last month at an online briefing after hearing from city officials and Summer Games organisers.
“We are confident that we will swim in the Seine this summer.”
