“Yes, I plan to swim in the Seine, that’s clear!
» Interviewed on Wednesday by Reuters in her office at City Hall, Anne Hidalgo was particularly enthusiastic about the idea of diving into the Parisian river.
For this first bath in the Seine, used during the Olympic Games in 1900, the date of June 23, Olympic day, could be retained, although the mayor of Paris initially mentioned July.
And she would even be accompanied: “I am preparing for this moment which will be historic.
I won't be alone.
» The president of the organizing committee for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Tony Estanguet, the Paris firefighters, members of the crew of the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier but also “Parisians, Parisians and athletes,” announced Anne Hidalgo.
The prefect of Paris and the Île-de-France region confirmed that he would be one of the personalities to dive into the river.
“This great collective plunge will be the signal that the Seine belongs to everyone,” she added.
“We will all be keen to dive into the Seine, a vast project which is being carried out with enormous energy,” added Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, the Minister of Sports, this Thursday on franceinfo.
Chirac had promised it, Macron gave the framework and the means to get there.
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Paris 2024: “I think we will all want to dive into the Seine,” declares Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, Minister of Sports and the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
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— franceinfo (@franceinfo) March 14, 2024
Emmanuel Macron himself is also invited to swim: “If the president wants to come, he will obviously be welcome,” assured Anne Hidalgo.
At the end of February, while inaugurating the Olympic village, the President of the Republic had already expressed his wish to swim in the Seine, "a river which will have changed its face and use for the day after".
“I don’t like plan B”
While numerous sanitation works have been undertaken to make the Seine suitable for swimming, this should be the case two days out of three on average in the summer, although the authorities hope to further improve this record before the Olympics.
“There is still work being carried out on the infrastructures to finalize them, in particular the rainwater collection basins,” said the Minister of Sports.
During a press point organized on Wednesday, the prefect of the Île-de-France region assured that deadlines were generally met for the various projects undertaken to clean up the river.
Additional measures should be taken this summer to strengthen the reliability of the analyses.
VIDEO.
“And how yeah!”
»: Emmanuel Macron promises that he will swim in the Seine before the Paris Olympics
The mayor of Paris, for her part, attested that the Olympic events planned in the river (triathlon, open water swimming) will be able to take place without incident, despite disappointing tests last summer.
“We have systems with contingency days which allow us to accommodate climatic hazards,” added Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, who recalls that 1.4 billion euros were invested “collectively”.
“We worked seriously.
We are ready, we will be ready,” concluded Anne Hidalgo.
We did all the work to be ready on a plan A and not on a plan B. I don’t like plan Bs.”