Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo Fulfills Promise to Swim in the Seine Ahead of the Olympics

TIME

After months of anticipation, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo took a dip in the long-polluted Seine River on Wednesday, fulfilling a promise to show the river was clean enough to host open swimming competitions during the 2024 Olympics—and the opening ceremony on the river nine days away.

Transcript

00:00OK.

00:02Woo.

00:03Woo.

00:04Woo.

00:05Woo.

00:06Woo.

00:07Woo.

00:08Woo.

00:09Woo.

00:13Woo.

00:15Woo pool.

00:16Woo.

00:17Woo.

00:17Oh yeah.

00:18Woo.

00:19Come on.

00:19Let's go.

00:20OK.

00:22Backwards.

00:24Four.

00:24Ah, it's the quality of the water.

00:29Come on!

00:34It's very, very soft.

00:36It doesn't have any waves at all.

00:40And it's quite clear, despite everything.

00:43Even if we had bad weather until now.

00:46It's fresh, but not cold at all.

00:48It was very pleasant.

00:49Really, it was beautiful.

00:51We didn't want to go out anymore.

00:53It's amazing, you know, it was a dream for us.

00:56We worked a lot and very hard for that.

01:01And it is not just for being here today and swimming together.

01:07It's a very lucky and happy day.

01:10It's also for the planet, you know, and for the river and for the ocean.

01:16We did it, we did it.

01:19Yeah, today it's a very important milestone,

01:22because it's the confirmation that we are ready for the Games.

01:26It's a great symbol, the day before the first athletes will arrive in Paris.

01:30The sand now, the sand quality is perfect.

01:35Let's give the place to the athletes.

01:38It will be a fantastic legacy, because we are also in this mindset.

01:44It's so meaningful to use the Games to transform the city of Paris,

01:48to leave a very important legacy for the people to have the opportunity to swim.

01:53So we are very happy with this result.

01:56It was the ambition from the start,

01:58and today it's the confirmation that we are exactly where we wanted to be.

02:02So congratulations to the authorities.

02:05They made a fantastic job.

02:07And as the organizing committee,

02:09we now are ready to organize the Games in the sand.

02:18For more information, visit www.fema.gov

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended