Can athletes swim in the Seine at the Olympics? Mayor Anne Hidalgo and President Emmanuel Macron want to jump into the river to prove that the water quality is sufficient. But a literal shitstorm is looming.
Will the Seine really be clean enough for swimming or not? This is a much-discussed question in Paris ahead of the Olympic Games this summer. The organizers’ ambition is to hold competitions in the river in the heart of the city. From next year, Parisians will be allowed to swim in the Seine again. Despite billions of euros being invested in cleaner water, laboratory tests are currently still giving cause for concern. The excessive rainfall of the past few months has also led to sewage entering the Seine.
Hidalgo and Macron want to swim in the Seine
The swimming issue has long since advanced from being a topic at the town hall to being a top priority at the Élysée Palace, because Olympic competitions in the Seine against a backdrop of Paris promise fantastic images that will go around the world. In addition to Mayor Anne Hidalgo, President Emmanuel Macron has also announced that he will jump into the Seine before the start of the games on July 26. Hidalgo originally wanted to swim in the Seine on June 23, accompanied by police chief Laurent Nuñez and the prefect of the capital region, Marc Guillaume. A postponement by a week is now being discussed. The date promises to be a media spectacle. It is still unclear whether Macron will join the group or choose another date.
“We need better weather so that the water volume can be regulated so that we can achieve a water quality that is satisfactory for bathing again,” said Paris’ deputy mayor Pierre Rabadan a few days ago. “But we still have enough time to achieve the goal.” Around 1.4 billion euros have been invested in sewage treatment plants and the sewage system in the greater Paris area. A key component is the 90 million euro Austerlitz retention basin, which can hold up to 50,000 cubic meters of rain and sewage during heavy rain, thus preventing the discharge of sewage into the Seine that has previously been practiced in such weather conditions.
The “Bassin d’Austerlitz” is only due to go into operation in the next few days – so the optimism in the town hall regarding the Olympic swimming plans is not unfounded. As Prefect Guillaume stressed, the improved water quality is already evident in the number of fish species found in the Seine, which has increased from 3 to 32. However, studies commissioned by the water protection organization Surfrider recently gave the Seine poor marks. “It turns out that of these 14 samples, which were taken both after heavy rainfall and on sunny days, only one allowed our team to conclude that the quality of the Seine water at this particular location was even satisfactory.”
Olympic swimmer calls for Plan B
And the athletes are worried too. Brazilian Ana Marcela Cunha, Olympic champion in open water swimming, called on the Olympic organizers in March to “develop a Plan B in case the competitions cannot take place in the Seine due to poor water quality.” It is not about erasing the history of the Seine, “but I think that the health of the athletes must come first,” argued the 32-year-old.
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The city of Paris began daily water tests at the beginning of June, the results of which are to be published weekly. The number of control points is to be increased from eight to 35 from July. At the same time, the city is hoping for better weather. Due to the enormous amount of water, the Seine is currently flowing almost five times faster than usual, which is reducing the efficiency of the sewage treatment plants, reported the broadcaster France Info. A lack of sunshine has also affected the water quality, as radiation normally kills intestinal bacteria.
Hashtag “I shit in the Seine” circulates on the Internet
Being able to swim in the Seine again is a long-held wish in Paris. This was banned in 1923. Her jump into the Seine takes place “more than 30 years after Jacques Chirac’s promise,” said Hidalgo. In 1990, the then mayor and later president had already promised Parisians that they would be able to swim in the Seine again from 1993 – but this never happened. Now, from 2025, outdoor swimming pools are to be prepared in three locations, one of them not far from the Eiffel Tower.
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In addition to mockery of the Olympic swimming plans, a campaign has recently been making waves on social networks under the slogan “I’m shitting in the Seine on June 23rd” (#jechiedanslaseinele23juin). The appeal, which has now been shared thousands of times, whose author is unknown according to media reports and whose seriousness is open to doubt, is aimed at spoiling the mayor’s fun in the water. The criticism is that over a billion euros have been invested just so that athletes can swim in the Seine, while the money is more urgently needed elsewhere in the city.
Bloodthirsty shark in Seine on movie posters
Meanwhile, large posters in the Paris metro are advertising the thriller “Sous la Seine” (In the Waters of the Seine), according to which an even greater threat than bacteria lurks in the river – a bloodthirsty shark. According to the fictional story, which Netflix has been broadcasting since Wednesday, a dangerous shark is discovered in the Seine before a triathlon competition in Paris. Dramatic scenes with lots of blood are guaranteed. As director Xavier Gens told broadcaster BFMTV, everything was done to ensure that the film was released before the Olympic Games.
Source: Stern

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