French President Emmanuel Macron promised on Thursday, February 29, that he would take a swim in the Seine as part of efforts to highlight how the river has been cleaned up for the Paris Olympics.
"I'll do it, but I won't give you the date. You all risk being there," Macron told reporters with a smile Thursday as he attended a ceremony to inaugurate the Olympic Village in northern Paris.
French authorities are in a race against time to improve the water quality of the Seine which is set to be used for open-water swimming and the triathlon during the July 26-August 11 Olympics. They have spent €1.4 billion ($1.5 billion) upgrading sewage and stormwater treatment facilities in the Paris region to improve the water quality of the Seine as well as its major tributary, the Marne.
But three test events in the Seine last year had to be canceled because of elevated readings of E.Coli, a bacteria found in human waste, and heavy rainfall prior to the Olympics could result in the events being canceled, organizers have conceded.
Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo has also promised to take a dip in the river ahead of the Games. The mayor's office plans to create three public bathing areas on the river after the Olympics, making it legal to swim in the Seine for the first time since it was banned in 1923.
"For people in the Paris region, we will have the Seine and Marne which will have changed in image and use," Macron added, calling it "an important legacy" of the Games.
The Seine will play a central role during the Paris Olympics, with national sports teams set to sail down the historic waterway during a spectacular opening ceremony being planned for July 26.
Organizers had a fright earlier this month when a tourist boat collided with one of its bridges, causing structural damage that has led to part of it being closed to traffic.
Macron, 46, has previously played football, tennis and boxed in public and is hoping that the Olympics spark an uptick in sporting activities across France.