Swimming in the Seine? It could be allowed after the Paris Olympics – if river is cleaned up enough

Although swimming in the river Seine was formally banned a century ago, people may soon be allowed to do so again – thanks to the 2024 summer Olympic Games

The French government is spending billions of euros to stop sewage and other pollution entering the river, and there are signs it is working

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Triathlon athletes dive into the river Seine during an Olympic Games test event in Paris in 2023. A clean-up of the river is taking place to make it fit for the Olympic Games this summer, and public swimming in the river could be allowed after that. Photo: AFP

Published: 6:24pm, 3 May 2024

Going for a dip in the Seine on a hot summer’s day has been the pipe dream of many a Parisian since swimming in the river was formally banned a century ago.

But floating on your back under the Eiffel Tower could soon become reality thanks to the Paris Olympics.

The river will be the star of the opening ceremony of the Games on July 26 and will host the triathlon and the swimming marathon. Then, if all goes well, Parisians and tourists will be able to dive in next summer.

Like Zurich and Munich before it, Paris has been reclaiming its river, with one of three new urban “beaches” to open under the windows of its historic town hall next year, with another almost at the foot of the Eiffel Tower.

People dive into the Seine in June 1946 in Paris. The river will be the star of the opening ceremony of the Games on July 26, and public swimming in the river could be authorised after that for the first time in decades. Photo: AFP

Nearly 30 more – complete with pontoons, showers and parasols – are planned for the suburbs and along the Marne, which flows into the Seine just east of the French capital.

Late French president Jacques Chirac first floated the idea of swimming in the Seine, once regarded as an open-air dump, in 1990. But it was the current Paris mayor, Anne Hidalgo, who really ran with the idea, making it a pillar of her Olympic bid in 2016.