French sports minister dives into Seine ahead of Paris Olympics to address water quality concerns

France's Minister of Sports and the Olympic and Paralympic Games Amelie Oudea-Castera, left and Tokyo 2020 Paralympics Triathlon gold medalist Alexis Hanquinquant gesture ahead of swimming in the River Seine. Credit: AP

French sports minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra took a symbolic dip in the Seine on Saturday in a bid to ease concerns about water quality before the start of the Paris Olympics.

Oudéa-Castéra, dressed in a wetsuit, swam a few metres 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 26 July.

She was accompanied by Alexis Hanquinquant, the Paralympic flag bearer for France.

Ever since swimming in the Seine was banned in 1923 due to pollution levels, French politicians have promised to make the river swimmable again.

Amélie Oudéa-Castéra and Alexis Hanquinquant during their swim. Credit: AP

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. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo also plans to swim in the Seine to prove its cleanliness. 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 1 September.

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