Go jump in the …Seine! 2.0

By Louise Peloquin

     During the summer of 2024, seven blog pieces covered the Paris Olympic Games with three on swimming in the Seine. (1) A year later, Paris mayor Annie Hidalgo and her team want to keep Parisian dog day blues at bay with a plan. What better way to cool off heat-heavy heads than by opening swimming sites as part of the yearly “Paris-Plages” event? (2) 

At a swimming project steering committee meeting on May 21st, Mayor Hidalgo announced the creation of three river swimming zones from July 5th to August 31st and added that she would slip on her Speedo on opening day. “Yes, I shall swim in the Seine” she declared.

This was surely the most awaited heritage of the 2024 Paris Olympics. Following last year’s Olympian triathletes, the general public is finally be able to take the plunge after a hundred-year Seine swimming prohibition.

Three sites are open: Bras Marie in the city center; Grenelle port in the XVth arrondissement (3) and Bercy in the XIIth arrondissement. However, getting one’s laps in will not be possible on a daily basis. “According to a sanitary protocol established with State services and the regional health agency, the sites will be closed when conditions do not allow for swimmer security, for example in the event of strong water current or overly abundant rains” according to a City of Paris communiqué. Flags of three different colors indicate the condition of each site and information related to water quality is available online. “We shall make sure that the sites are accessible” Annie Hidalgo promised. “Transparency is the key to confidence” she insisted.

More than 1000 places alloted to three sites

The three swimming zones are free of charge and supervised by life guards. An experience which is “much wilder than that of a swimming pool” assures Annie Hidalgo. “We wanted the installed infrastructures to be as lightweight as possible. The Bercy site is separated from boat navigation by lateral protection.” This site can welcome a total of 700 people, 300 in the water, every day between 11 AM and 9 PM. Two pools are set up to face the Bibliothèque National de France. (4)

     The Grenelle site, in front of l’Île aux Cygnes, has a shallow pool for children in the middle of a large pontoon. A zone dedicated to kayaking is also planned. This site can welcome 200 people, 150 in the water. Opening hours are Monday to Friday from 10 AM to 5:30 PM; Saturday from 10 to 12 then from 12:30 to 2:15 PM and Sunday from 2:45 PM to 5:30 PM. “This schedule allows passengers to safely board Seine cruise boats” explains Pierre Rabadan, Mayor Hidalgo’s Deputy for Sports.

Here are two AI photos of the Grenelle site:

Finally, the Bras-Marie site accommodates 150 swimmers in a 70 by 20 meter area from 8 AM to 5:30 PM on Sundays and from 8 to 11:30 AM the rest of the week. This schedule allows for the steady traffic of tourist cruise boats in the area off the right bank of l’Île Saint Louis. “On this site, it is necessary to stop navigation during swimming hours because some 350 boats pass there each day” Mr. Ramadan pointed out. Recently, in a joint communiqué, the CPP and the ETF expressed their serious concern. (5) They especially fear that these new swimming zones may “seriously perturb the balance of Paris river use.”

Our own photos of the Bras-Marie site:

 Water quality even better than in 2024

Marc Guillaume, Île-de-France and Paris régional Prefect, announced: “The water will be of even better quality than it was last summer. Since then, we have repaired 2000 plumbing connections from buildings and houses which discharge their waste water directly into the river.”

Since 2016, with the 2024 Olympics in mind, a vast swimming plan costing 1.1 billion euros – 50% State funded – was launched to improve the quality of the Seine and the Marne water. (6) “Together we have succeeded where many believed we would fail despite difficult meteorological conditions” bragged Marie Barsacq, France’s Minister of Sports.

Here’s hoping those who go jump in the Seine find refreshing waters during the brutal urban heatwaves. Cannonballing into the Seine is a leap of faith!

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1. Here are last year’s pieces on Olympic swimming in the Seine:

https://richardhowe.com/2024/07/09/the-last-lap-pariss-summer-olympics/

https://richardhowe.com/2024/07/16/olympic-happy-hour-ahead/

https://richardhowe.com/2024/07/24/go-jump-in-theseine/

2) Since 2007, from July to the beginning of September, the City of Paris sets up artificial sandy beaches along the Seine – “Paris-Plages.” All are welcome and entrance is free.

3) “Arrondissement” translates to city district or borough. Paris has 20 arrondissements.

4) National Library of France.

5) CPP – Comité Portuaire de Paris (Paris Port Committee) and EFF – Enterprises Fluviales de France (French River Enterprises).

6) The Marne is an eastern tributary of the Seine in the area east and southeast of Paris.