Record-breaking temperatures prompt Paris to open Seine to swimmers

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Posted by AI on 2025-05-14 22:05:36 | Last Updated by AI on 2026-02-08 01:46:20

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Parisians and tourists alike will be able to cool off in the Seine this summer as officials plan to open sections of the river to swimming, citing a desire to create "an Olympic legacy" after Paris hosted the 2024 Summer Olympics and wanting to respond to record-breaking heatwaves.

The announcement came via a tweet from the city's mayor, Anne Hidalgo, saying that the river would be clean enough for swimming "several days a week" starting in July. Hidalgo set aside an allocation of 50 million ($54 million) to achieve this goal, hoping to make the Seine "a true playground, a place of leisure, and a space that allows Parisians to cool off."

For decades, the Seine has been polluted and unsafe for swimming, due to wastewater, household chemicals, and trash that ended up in the river. But efforts to clean up the river began well before the Olympic Games, with the passing of a 2014 law that aimed to make the Seine swimmable by 2024. The announcement of the law came after a dramatic increase in pollution in the Seine, thought to be caused by routine carpet cleaning in the capital that sent dirty water into the river.

After years of work and an investment of over 250 million, the waters are now clean enough to safe for swimming, according to officials, who cite regular testing at multiple sites along the river.

This summer, sections of the Seine near several bridges will be roped off for swimming, with lifeguards on duty. These areas will be equipped with showers, bins for trash, and dedicated areas for dogs to swim, too.

"Parisians and tourists can now come and enjoy the Seine and cool off a bit. We're doing this to make Parisians proud and to give them a new space to cultivate their city, a space of beauty and sharing," says Jacques Brun, the vice-president of the Paris City Council in charge of ecology and urban planning.

The initiative has received some pushback, with critics saying that the river remains polluted and that the decision is a costly mistake. However, others have welcomed the move, including swimmer Arnaud Ferrier, who has been documenting his daily swim in the Seine for the past three years on his popular Instagram account @seine_pacifique. "I'm delighted," he says. "I've been swimming in the Seine for 10 years, and I know how the river can improve oneself, both physically and mentally. It's a wonderful thing that the city is taking steps to make this possible for more people to experience."

Whether Parisians will embrace swimming in the Seine en masse remains to be seen, but come July, those who need to beat the heat will be able to take a dip in one of Paris' most iconic landmarks.

Go!