PARIS – Parisians rushed for a dip within the Seine on Saturday as authorities opened the river to public swimming for the primary time since 1923 after an in depth clean-up operation spurred on by it getting used final yr as a venue within the Paris Olympics.
Three websites alongside the banks of the Seine within the metropolis will be capable to welcome over 1,000 swimmers each day till August 31, native officers mentioned, to the delight of the Parisians and guests who have been among the many first to make the leap.
“Very nice, I am impressed, shocked,” mentioned 24-year-old Victoria Cnop, a Brazilian who lives in Paris. “I by no means imagined being within the water near the Eiffel Tower.”
“The water is clear, it is heat, it is clear. There’s a little bit of algae, however that is regular,” mentioned 51-year-old Karine. “Come right here all people, it is nice!.”
The reopening of the Seine for public swimming follows efforts by authorities to enhance its water high quality so it might be used for Olympic occasions final summer time.
Investments included connecting tens of hundreds of houses to the sewer system, upgrading water remedy services, and setting up massive rainwater storage reservoirs to stop sewer overflow throughout heavy storms.
Whereas delays, triggered by the well being impression of heavy rains, impacted some Olympic coaching classes and the boys’s triathlon occasion, competitions within the Seine ultimately went forward, bolstering confidence within the river’s security for public swimming.
Every day water high quality checks will probably be carried out through the swimming season, with inexperienced and purple flags – just like seaside security programs – indicating whether or not swimming areas are open or closed.
“It is great,” mentioned John Drummond, a 54-year-old customer from Canada. “It is nice for the atmosphere, it is nice for the town, it is nice for the those that dwell right here. So superb initiative.”
In addition to the three websites inside Paris, 14 swimming areas exterior the capital’s boundaries will probably be arrange on the Seine and the Marne rivers. Two of these already opened on the Marne in June. — Reuters