00:00 With less than a year to go until the world's top athletes descend on Paris,
00:05 the French capital is pulling out all the stops.
00:08 Place de la Concorde, Le Grand Palais, Les Invalides,
00:11 iconic place of Paris, we will welcome official competition.
00:16 That also includes turning the iconic River Seine into a competition swimming pool.
00:22 We get out of the stadium for the opening ceremony,
00:25 for the first time for the Olympics and for the Paralympics,
00:28 we will use the River Seine for it.
00:31 So that's maybe the best way you can discover Paris.
00:35 The Seine River cuts right through the heart of modern Paris
00:39 and had a role in how much of this modern city grew up around it.
00:43 Before the 20th century, it was not uncommon to see people bathing in the water here,
00:48 but the construction of industry and development of factories upstream
00:51 quickly put that to a halt.
00:55 Up until recently, pollution levels were dangerously high.
00:59 Scientists detecting not just industrial chemicals,
01:03 but also dirty runoff and even fecal matter.
01:06 Brushing teeth, washing clothes, dishes, all these activities produce chemicals.
01:13 That's one source of contamination.
01:15 But we also have the wastewater intake from our homes, toilets, bathrooms, etc.
01:20 And these products may contain microbes that are dangerous.
01:23 So far, wastewater treatment plants have significantly cleaned up the river
01:30 over the last 20 years, but actually swimming in the water presents a new set of risks.
01:36 What kind of measurements are you getting?
01:38 Is the Seine going to be ready for people to swim in it
01:41 by the time these Olympic Games come to town?
01:43 We're almost certain that we will be able to swim in the Seine,
01:48 but rainwater will be the next big challenge.
01:51 When it rains, we have rainwater runoff on the streets.
01:54 It's not very clean, so we must try to limit this as much as possible.
01:59 Organizers had planned a test swimming event as we film this story.
02:03 But days of rainy weather and dirty runoff meant those plans had to be scrapped.
02:09 And even after the Games, Paris hopes that swimming in the Seine becomes a summer tradition.
02:15 Millions of dollars are being spent on programs like this
02:19 that teach underprivileged students how to handle the water.
02:22 Water in more general issues is definitely a priority,
02:26 so we're happy that thanks to the dynamic of the Games,
02:30 there will be a new Seine with a better quality of water
02:34 definitely after the Games, thanks to the Games.
02:37 But though young swimmers like Imran say he'd swim in the Seine,
02:41 his real dream is the ocean.
02:44 In Paris, I'm Ryan Thompson for Newsnet.
02:47 News Net.
02:47 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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