AFTER MONTHS OF anticipation, Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo has finally taken a swim in the Seine River, nine days before the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympic Games.

The move is part of a broader effort to showcase the river’s improved cleanliness ahead of the Summer Games which will kick off 26 July.

The Seine will host several open water swimming events during the Games, including marathon swimming at the Olympic Games and the swimming legs of the Olympic and Paralympic triathlons.

Clad in a wetsuit, Hidalgo plunged into the river near the imposing-looking City Hall, her office, and Notre Dame Cathedral.

The Paris mayor had pledged to swim in the Seine in January

“It’s wonderful, very, very pleasant,” Hidalgo told reporters of the greenish water. “It’s fresh but not cold.”

Paris 2024 chief Tony Estanguet and the top government official for the Paris region, Marc Guillaume, joined her in the water.

“Today is a confirmation that we are exactly where we are meant to be,” Estanguet said. “We are now ready to organise the Games in the Seine.”

President Emmanuel Macron, who had promised to join the Seine bathers, was a notable absentee on Wednesday as he is occupied by a political crisis caused by his decision to call snap parliamentary elections last month.

Hidalgo said the water was cool, but fine. PA PA

The swim fulfils a promise Hidalgo made months ago to show the river is clean enough to host open-swimming competitions during the 2024 Games.

She had originally planned to swim last month, but had to delay because water tests showed that E.Coli bacteria – a key indicator of faecal matter – were sometimes up to 10 times higher than authorised limits.

On the initial date, the hashtag “jechiedanslaSeine” (“I’m pooping in the Seine”) trended on social media as some threatened to protest the Olympics by defecating upstream.

Since 2015, organisers have invested heavily – €1.3 billion – to prepare the Seine for the Olympics and to ensure Parisians have a cleaner river in the years after the Games.

There had been some concerns over water quality in the river.

The plan included constructing a giant underground water storage basin in central Paris, renovating sewer infrastructure, and upgrading wastewater treatment plants.

Despite being a recurring promise among politicians, swimming in the Seine has been banned for over a century.

Jacques Chirac, the former French president, made a similar pledge in 1988 when he was Paris mayor, but it was never realised.

However, Hidalgo plans to create three public bathing areas in the Seine for the city’s residents next year – a century after swimming was banned – while fish and other organisms are also returning to the waterway in greater numbers.

Hidalgo follows in the footsteps of French Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera, who swam in the Seine on Saturday wearing a full-body suit.

Locals in the Seine River after the mayor of Paris swam in the river to demonstrate that it is clean enough to host the outdoor swimming events. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

The Olympic events remain weather-dependent and heavy rain on the eve of the triathlon or open-water swimming could lead to problems.

In the worst-case scenario, the swimming for the triathlon would be cancelled, while the open-water swimming could be moved from the Seine to a water course east of Paris.

Heavy rain in May and June have also disrupted preparations for the Seine-based opening ceremony, during which thousands of athletes are set to sail down the river.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo swims in the Seine river today. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Organisers have had to postpone rehearsals repeatedly because of the strength of the currents.