River Seine reopens to Paris swimmers, after Olympics, century-long ban

The iconic River Seine has reopened to swimmers successful Paris, allowing radical to instrumentality a dip successful the French capital’s waterway for the archetypal clip successful astatine slightest a period aft a much than billion-euro cleanup task that made it suitable for Olympic competitions past year.

A fewer twelve radical arrived up of the 8am (06:00 GMT) opening connected Saturday astatine the Bras Marie portion successful the city’s historical centre, diving into the h2o for the long-awaited infinitesimal nether the watchful eyes of lifeguards wearing fluorescent yellowish T-shirts and carrying whistles.

It was besides a invited respite from the scorching vigor enveloping the metropolis this week. Parisians and tourists alike, looking to chill disconnected this summer, tin dive successful – upwind permitting – astatine 3 bathing sites: 1 adjacent to Paris’s Notre-Dame cathedral, different adjacent the Eiffel Tower and a 3rd successful eastbound Paris.

The swimming zones are equipped with changing rooms, showers and beach-style furniture, offering abstraction for 150 to 300 swimmers.

The seasonal opening of the Seine for swimming is seen arsenic a cardinal bequest of the Paris 2024 Olympics, erstwhile open-water swimmers and triathletes competed successful its waters, which were specially cleaned for the event.

“It’s a puerility imagination to person radical swimming successful the Seine,” said Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, who visited the bras Marie tract connected Saturday morning.

But officials reminded swimmers of imaginable dangers, including beardown currents, vessel postulation and an mean extent of 3.5 metres (11 feet).

“The Seine remains a unsafe environment,” said section authoritative Elise Lavielle earlier this week.

To mitigate that risk, lifeguards volition measure visitors’ swimming abilities earlier allowing autarkic access, portion a decree issued successful precocious June introduced fines for anyone swimming extracurricular designated areas.

The committedness to assistance the swimming prohibition dates backmost to 1988, erstwhile then-mayor of Paris and aboriginal President Jacques Chirac archetypal advocated for its reversal, astir 65 years aft the signifier was banned successful 1923.

“One of my predecessors (Chirac), past politician of Paris, dreamed of a Seine wherever everyone could swim,” President Emmanuel Macron wrote connected X, describing the determination arsenic the effect of a “collective effort” and a infinitesimal of “pride” for France.

L’un de mes prédécesseurs, alors Maire de Paris, a rêvé d’une Seine où chacun pourrait nager. Demain sa promesse sera tenue.

C’est un héritage des Jeux olympiques et paralympiques de Paris après 100 ans d’interdiction, un travail collectif, une fierté determination le pays.

Merci… pic.twitter.com/KhymFPgIy1

— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) July 4, 2025

Ahead of the Olympic Games, authorities invested astir 1.4 cardinal euros ($1.6bn) to amended the Seine’s h2o quality.

Since then, enactment carried retired upstream, including 2,000 caller connections to the sewage system, promises adjacent amended h2o prime – with an unappetising catch.

On rainy days, the mid-19th-century Parisian sewage strategy often overflows, causing rainfall and wastewater to determination into the river.

Flags volition pass bathers astir contamination levels successful the h2o each day, and if it rains, the sites volition apt adjacent the time after, said Paris metropolis authoritative Pierre Rabadan.

The beingness of the faecal bacteria Escherichia coli (E coli) and enterococci successful the Seine volition beryllium assessed regular utilizing unrecorded sensors and samples.

A refuge from the blistery weather

Varying upwind conditions volition beryllium a captious factor. Swimmers whitethorn beryllium successful luck this year, though, with temperatures predicted to beryllium drier than the grounds rainfall during the games, which had led to the cancellation of six of the 11 competitions held connected the river.

With record-breaking vigor hitting Europe, including France’s 2nd warmest June since records began successful 1900, authorities said they expect Parisians to clasp the alleviation of a refreshing swim.

Some scepticism astir the h2o prime remains, however.

Dan Angelescu, laminitis and CEO of Fluidion, a Paris and Los Angeles-based h2o monitoring tech company, has routinely and independently tested bacterial levels successful the Seine for respective years. Despite being successful enactment with existent regulations, the authoritative water-testing methodology has limitations and undercounts the bacteria, helium said.

“What we spot is that the h2o prime successful the Seine is highly variable,” Angelescu said. “There are lone a fewer days successful a swimming play wherever I would accidental h2o prime is acceptable for swimming.”

Some Parisians are besides hesitant astir the thought of swimming successful the Seine. The feeling is often reinforced by the water’s murky colour, floating litter and aggregate tourer boats successful immoderate places.

Hidalgo, who took an inaugural aquatics past year, said that cleaning up the Seine for the Olympics was not the last extremity but portion of a broader effort to accommodate the metropolis to clime alteration and heighten prime of life.

The swimming spots volition beryllium unfastened for escaped until August 31 astatine scheduled times to anyone with a minimum property of 10 oregon 14 years, depending connected the location.