The date is scheduled for June 23 or 30, depending on weather conditions. Mayor Anne Hidalgo promised that she would swim in the Seine, and for this she is training, she told a few journalists, including 20 minutesalongside a visit to the exhibition Paris !. “I still trained a little for my personal challenge. I didn’t train in the Seine but in a swimming pool,” she confides. Asked about the swimming pools she frequents, the mayor did not wish to specify, but she indicated that she frequents “several”. And as for the type of swimming she will practice, she said: “I will show my little crawl. »
Making the Seine swimmable is a “childhood dream,” explains the mayor. “When you’re a kid, passing by a river or a lake, all you want to do is swim in it. And there is the idea of saying that if it is possible in Paris then it will be possible elsewhere,” she adds, hoping to lead other cities to clean up their rivers.
The mayors of Athens and Tirana could go swimming
Anne Hidalgo also revealed some of the guests who should be present or even take a dip during this open water swimming demonstration. “There will be a lot of people: the mayor of Athens, the mayor of Tirana, ambassadors, that of Germany for example. The Paris firefighters also told me “Don’t do this without us”. » Before adding: “Marc Guillaume [préfet de la région d’Île-de-France] trains, Laurent Nunez [préfet de police] will be there but perhaps on a boat. There will be part of the GIGN and a crew from the [porte-avions] Charles de Gaulle. »
Among these personalities could also be the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, according to The Parisian. Information still in the conditional according to the entourage of the Head of State who refuses to confirm his presence.
Three new swimming sites in 2025
The reconquest of the river to allow swimming has seen a boost with the Olympic Games (July 26 – August 11), during which an open water swimming event will be held. The State and communities have invested 1.4 billion euros to build the Austerlitz rainwater and wastewater retention basin.
As part of Paris Plages, swimming has already been possible since 2017 in the La Villette basin and since 2023 in the Saint-Martin canal. But to go further, three swimming areas are due to open in the summer of 2025. They are located in Bercy, on the Marie arm (between Saint-Louis island and Saint-Paul) and the Grenelle arm (not far from the Eiffel Tower). They will be “demarcated, secured, signaled and monitored”, according to the deliberation voted yesterday in the Paris Council. “Sobriety and frugality are the principles that will guide the creation of facilities to which access for people with reduced mobility will be facilitated,” summarizes the text.