2024-07-17 08:08:18
He has promised it many times, he has done it: Anne Hidalgo (Socialist Party) bathed in the Seine on Thursday July 17. The mayor of Paris with Tony Estanguet, president of the Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024 (Cojop) , Marc Guillaume, administrator of the Ile-de-France, and Pierre Rabadan, deputy mayor of Paris in charge of sport, a few days before the open swimming events of the Olympic Games.
It is a “dream day”replied Mrs. Hidalgo after swimming for a few minutes, “We keep the promise”. “It is a lot of work, there is a technical scale, the infrastructure to connect, all the ships… and we do it. “Gaming is an accelerator” and this symbol will be marked “deadline” etc “it will be a special legacy”continue city council.
“When we clean the Seine, so we will make it possible to prepare for the Olympics, so we will be able to swim then, but we also protect the oceans, for future generations.”, said the mayor of Paris. Marc Guillaume also explained his “satisfaction” : “We did and we are ready for Tony Estanguet to organize the Olympics. »
Sunny weather, water at 20 ° C, bacteria and reduced flow: the conditions are finally right for diving the history of the three important figures of the Olympic Games. The Minister of Sport and Games of France, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, was ahead of them by bathing on the sly in the Seine on Saturday morning.
If, from the outside, the race for the image can make you laugh, the subject is important for the organizers of the Olympic Games, who have made the river the star of these Games, and its destruction is one of the column of their candidate.
1.4 billion euros injected since 2016 to clean the Seine and Marne
The state and regional authorities in Ile-de-France have invested 1.4 billion euros since 2016 to make the Seine and its main tributary, the Marne, swimmable, with the modernization of wastewater treatment plants, connection of vessels to the sewage system or collection. of plastic waste. The plan also resulted in five major works, including a rainwater and sewage basin located near the Austerlitz station, an underground cathedral that was apparently dug in the center of Paris. These services “will make it possible to reduce to less than two days after the last rain the time during which it is impossible to take tests in the Seine”confirmed the prefecture in March.
The moment of truth is approaching for the organizers: after the opening ceremony, the triathlon events (July 30 and 31, August 5), swimming marathon (August 8 and 9) and para triathlon (September 1 and 2) must take place in the Seine. However, in August 2023, rehearsals for these routines have turned into a nightmare for the organizers, forced to cancel several days of test events due to water not suitable for swimming.
In the event of heavy precipitation, untreated water can be released into the river, a phenomenon that the delay units launched just before the Games are determined to avoid. Plan B is to postpone the events for a few days, plan C otherwise plans to move the race to Vaires-sur-Marne (Seine-et-Marne).
Overall positive bacterial results
In the past two weeks, despite the flow of the Seine is still high (around 400 cubic meters per minute on Tuesday), which is damaging to the water quality, the city hall and the local community have announced in general positive virus results bursts of bad analysis in June because of the rain.
According to the last two samples taken on June 26 and July 4 by the NGO Surfrider on the Olympic course, the bacterial content Escherichia coli and enterococci, two faecal bacteria measured to allow or not zero, according to the standards of the international organizations of the concerned sports. “The water is safe for swimming at this time”commented Marc Valmassoni, water and health manager at Surfrider, regrets however that the chemical content was not noticed by the authorities.
#Anne #Hidalgo #swims #Seine #days #Olympic #open #water #swimming #events