The mayor of Paris has taken a dip in the River Seine to prove that its waters are safe enough to hold Olympic swimming events.
Wearing a wetsuit and goggles, Anne Hidalgo plunged into the river on Wednesday as onlookers crowded nearby bridges.
She was joined by Tony Estanguet, the head of the Paris Olympics Organizing Committee, as well as government official Marc Guillaume and swimmers from local swimming clubs.
According to spectators, the mayor initially paddled before launching into a front crawl with her face in the water.
After the swim she said: “We have worked very, very hard and then you go down into the water and it seems natural. “The water is very, very good, a little bit cool.”
The move comes just weeks before the Olympic kick-off, after Eau de Paris, the company in charge of the city’s water supply, warned about dangerous contamination in the Seine.
According to the officials, pollution levels were high enough to see some swimming events in the Paris Olympics canceled, postponed or relocated.
However, the latest data published by a monitoring group basing its weekly bulletin on Eau de Paris water analysis show that water quality would be suitable for swimming in six out of seven days at the Olympics swimming sites.
The final decisions on whether to run the events will be taken the night before, or early the same morning an event is going to be held, with a technical committee, including athletes, an international federation, regional authorities, and Meteo France, making the call.
“The first athletes are arriving tomorrow, and so this is a very important message that, finally, the Seine is swimmable, and the triathlon and swimming events can be held here,” Estanguet said.
The Olympics, which run from July 26 to August 11, are due to hold triathlon and marathon swimming competitions in the Seine.
She was joined by Tony Estanguet, the head of the Paris Olympics Organizing Committee, as well as government official Marc Guillaume and swimmers from local swimming clubs.
According to spectators, the mayor initially paddled before launching into a front crawl with her face in the water.
After the swim she said: “We have worked very, very hard and then you go down into the water and it seems natural. “The water is very, very good, a little bit cool.”
The move comes just weeks before the Olympic kick-off, after Eau de Paris, the company in charge of the city’s water supply, warned about dangerous contamination in the Seine.
According to the officials, pollution levels were high enough to see some swimming events in the Paris Olympics canceled, postponed or relocated.
However, the latest data published by a monitoring group basing its weekly bulletin on Eau de Paris water analysis show that water quality would be suitable for swimming in six out of seven days at the Olympics swimming sites.
The final decisions on whether to run the events will be taken the night before, or early the same morning an event is going to be held, with a technical committee, including athletes, an international federation, regional authorities, and Meteo France, making the call.
“The first athletes are arriving tomorrow, and so this is a very important message that, finally, the Seine is swimmable, and the triathlon and swimming events can be held here,” Estanguet said.
The Olympics, which run from July 26 to August 11, are due to hold triathlon and marathon swimming competitions in the Seine.
Source: Reuters
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