VIDEO | Seine bathing 100 years later.The mayor of Paris swims in defiance of mice and Escherichia coli

"Cleaned up" just in time for the Olympic competitions.The Paris river had been banned from swimming since 1923.Hidalgo:"A Great Day"

ROME – The demonstration swim went well.If Anne Hidalgo doesn't end up in hospital in the next few days, she could certify the operation performed: the Seine is swimmable again, the miracle occurred just in time for the Paris Olympics.

The bathing Seine has been the dream and promise of the mayors of Paris for decades, and the nightmare of the organizers of the Games, who planned open water swimming and triathlon competitions in the city river.The mayor, amidst applause and shouts of jubilation, led a small group of brave athletes and locals, and finally immersed herself.

“It's a dream day… and it's sunny,” Hidalgo said after performing a respectable crawl for a hundred meters in about 20 degrees.“It's sweet and wonderful and it's the result of a lot of work.Will athletes be able to swim in the Seine?Today we can say yes."

With her also Tony Estanguet, president of the Paris 2024 organizing committee, who congratulated the city hall and the French authorities:“As organizers we are very happy to be able to offer the athletes the best conditions… but beyond this, what is at stake is use the Games to accelerate the transformation of the city and make swimming in the Seine possible“.

Swimming in the Seine has been banned since 1923 due to health risks.Making it swimmable was the great unrealized dream of President Jacques Chirac who made the promise in 1990.Until recently, the river failed water quality tests for the bacterium Escherichia coli, an indicator of fecal matter, and showed levels above the maximums set by various sports federations.The water will be tested regularly at several points before each event.