French sports minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra has taken a symbolic dip in the Seine in a bid to ease concerns about water quality before the start of the Paris…
French sports minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra took a symbolic dip in the Seine on Saturday in a bid to ease concerns aboutOudéa-Castéra, dressed in a body suit, dove into the famous river after an initial slip and swam a few meters near the Alexandre III bridge, where the Olympic open water swimming competition will be held.“We held our promise,” she said to BFMTV, referring to an earlier pledge to swim in the Seine before the Games begin on July 26.
Ever since swimming in the Seine was banned in 1923 due to pollution levels, French politicians have promised to make the river swimmable again. Former Paris mayor and later president Jacques Chirac famously vowed in 1988 that the river would be clean enough to swim in by the end of his term, a promise that went unfulfilled.
Construction work continues to finish building a giant basin that will help control pollution levels in Paris Seine River.In February, French President Emmanuel Macron promised to take a dip, too. But he added: “I’m not going to give you the date: There’s a risk you’ll be there." Hanquinquant, a para-triathlete, joined Oudéa-Castéra in Saturday's swim and experienced firsthand the conditions he will face in competition on Sept. 1.French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday that the opening ceremony for the Paris Olympics planned on the River Seine could be shifted to the Stade de France if the security threat is deemed too high.
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