Soon You’ll Be Able To Swim In The River Seine In Paris, France

The River Seine in Paris is set to be the centerpiece of the 2024 Summer Olympics. This comes as the French city conducts a massive clean-up of the river’s water. The aim is to hold the Olympiad’s swimming events in the river as they were in the past.

Paris cleans the River Seine for the 2024 Summer Olympics

In centuries past, Parisians often bathed in the Seine, which runs through the City of Light. These days, it is hard to imagine diving into a river in the center of a busy city. However, when Paris hosted its first Olympic Games in 1900, the swimming events were held in the Seine. Unfortunately, taking a dip was then banned in 1923, due to pollution.

A century later, local authorities in Paris have announced that people will soon be able to take a dip in the Seine after the city’s “Swimming Plan” is well underway. The clean-up started in 2018 and the river will soon be clean enough for swimming.

‘Swimming Plan’ in the River Seine

Costing some €1.4 billion ($1.55-billion), the ambitious project to clean up the river includes two disinfection units, installed at the city’s wastewater treatment plants. The plants are to be operated by the public sanitation service and will go into service this summer. However, that isn’t all, as other, new-build structures have been designed to improve water quality, including a rainwater storage basin currently under construction.

Meanwhile, Paris intends to make the Seine the piece de resistance of the 2024 Olympics. The city plans to conduct the opening ceremony, which is normally held in the host city’s Olympic stadium, directly on the river. Moreover, it is planned that at least 600,000 spectators will watch the opening ceremony from the river’s banks.

Paris’ City Hall gave a statement about the river earlier in July:

At the Paris 2024 Games, the athletes will inaugurate swimming in the river with the Olympic events. A revival that will pave the way for aquatic leisure.

Meanwhile, Nicolas Londinsky, the head of water cleaning services in Paris, spoke to CNN about cleaning up the river. He said that preventing the primary source of pollution – bacterial contamination that comes from wastewater – from reaching the Seine is their first priority.

The city’s authorities have already mandated that owners of boats berthed on the Seine must connect to Paris’ wastewater network, instead of discharging it into the river. Moreover, authorities have also begun to fix subpar plumbing throughout the city which would occasionally cause wastewater to enter the storm drains.

So far, the city’s efforts to improve water quality are already showing results. According to the City Hall, an analysis run in June revealed “excellent results” in compliance with European regulations. Moreover, testing in the parts of the Seine set to be the sites of various Olympic races, had already satisfied standards during 91 percent of the period from July 20 to August 11, 2022.

Plans for swimming events in the 2024 Olympics

Should Paris’ Swimming Plan’ meet its goals, the open-water swimming, triathlon and paratriathlon and competitions will be held near the iconic Alexandre III Bridge. Once the Olympics are over and in 2025, locals and visitors will be able to swim in the river at three designated points: Bercy (above), Bras de Grenelle and Bras Marie. The City Hall said in a statement:

The swimming areas will be marked out by buoys and a pontoon to get to them, with spaces to change, shower and store your things on the quay.

Meanwhile, officials have already identified around 20 more potential bathing sites in the greater Paris region. When you visit Paris in 2025, make sure to pack your swimsuit!