Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo said she was confident water quality in the River Seine will be up to Olympic standards this summer — and that she’ll be able to prove it by swimming there, possibly alongside President Emmanuel Macron.
The Seine is the venue for marathon swimming at the Games and the swimming leg of the Olympic and Paralympic triathlons.
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Guillaume said routine water testing will start on June 1 when all the new treatment facilities are operational. During the Olympics, water will be tested at 3 a.m. each day and determine whether to hold events as planned, he detailed.
Olympics organizers said if pollution levels were too high, events could be rescheduled and in the worst-case scenario, the swimming section of the triathlon would be canceled.
In a recent report, the Surfrider Foundation called the Seine “a particularly polluted spot” after it monitored bacteria levels for over six months. The group concluded that athletes “will be swimming in polluted water and taking significant risks to their health.”
The Paris mayor’s news conference on Tuesday was meant to unveil cultural and sports celebrations to be staged on 26 sites across Paris during the summer.
“We are working together to ensure that the party is beautiful,” Hidalgo said, adding that security is the authorities’ top concern.
Around 30,000 police officers are expected to be deployed each day during the Games, with 45,000 working during the opening ceremony on the Seine.
“We work … with a lot of professionalism and determination so that never, ever the issue of security finally comes to prevent our freedom to be able to live together,” Hidalgo said.
© 2024 The Canadian Press
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