Anne Hidalgo took another dip in the Seine on the eve of Paralympic Games start

The mayor of Paris is still adamant that next summer, the city’s river waters will be a viable option for sports and leisure

Yesterday, Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, repeated her Seine swimming publicity stunt from July, this time to prove that the iconic river is safe for paralympic athletes. After the dip, the mayor went on to affirm her promise that the Seine would be swimmable by the summer of 2025.

The 2024 Olympic Games may already be history, but the Olympic spirit is very much alive in Paris thanks to the upcoming Paralympic Games, whose opening ceremony will take place tonight.

That’s why concerns have once again been raised about the cleanliness of the waters in the Seine, given that there are scheduled para-triathlon events for Sunday and Monday.

Cleaning up the Seine was one of the pillars of Paris's bid and one of the aspects of the "Olympic legacy" touted by the organisers. However, during the Games, it turned out that things hadn’t gone exactly to plan as the men’s triathlon on 30 July had to be postponed for one day after tests showed that the waters were still too polluted due to the heavy rains.

The Paralympics opening ceremony is today

Para-athletes will follow in the footsteps of the Olympic athletes and also put their bodies to the test not only in terms of endurance but also in terms of the water quality of the Seine.

The swimming part of the para-triathlon will take place on a 750-meter loop starting from the Pont Alexandre III and passing under the Pont des Invalides bridges.

Mayor Anne Hidalgo wanted to show that the cleanliness of the river, despite fluctuations in the previous weeks, is still at good levels. What’s more, she was adamant that the Seine would be a swimmable option for Parisians next year. After all, Paris had already spent 1.4 billion euros in order to make this happen.

The Paralympics opening ceremony itself will start at 8 pm tonight on Place de la Concorde. The Paralympic Games will conclude on 8 September.