PARIS (AP) — 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.
Asked Tuesday about whether she’ll meet her promise to swim in the Seine before the Games, Hidalgo said “for sure, because water quality will be good.”
For decades, the Seine was too toxic for most fish and for swimmers, useful mainly as a waterway to transport goods and people or as a watery grave for discarded bicycles and other trash. Swimming in the Seine has, with some exceptions, been illegal since 1923.
Hidalgo mentioned new facilities that have been specially built to clean up the river, whose water quality was recently denounced by an environmental group.
Tennis power couple Katie Boulter and Alex de Minaur look loved
Young Craftswoman Breathes New Life into Wood Carvings
Rural Woman Establishes Museum to Display Unique Charm of Miaos' Embroideries
Multiethnic Family Lives in Harmony on Grassland
I'm a female joiner and applied for a job at building firm... but what they said made my blood boil
Shenzhen Beautiful City for Children
Shenzhen promotes industrial tourism
Classical Guitar, Chinese Style
Maya Rudolph chimes in on the 'nepo baby' conversation revealing her famous parents
Facilitating Early Education in Neighborhoods
Hong Kong schools ban books, warn teachers not to get 'political' — Radio Free Asia
Accelerating Development of Eco