C’est la vie – The Olympic column: Paris goes swimming

God, the water! Eau de Paris! It is causing the biggest problems for the Olympic organizers. There was already too much of it at the rainy opening ceremony. Above all, the Seine, which they so ambitiously want to transform into a swimmable body of water, continues to cause problems: the triathletes’ Seine training scheduled for Monday had to be canceled.

The state and the Île-de-France region invested 1.4 billion euros to turn the Seine into a river in which people can swim again after the games. But it’s difficult: after the heavy rains on Friday and Saturday, the water quality is simply too bad. It is now clear: the triathletes’ competition must be postponed from Tuesday to Wednesday. There is also still room for a postponement to Friday.

In Paris you can go swimming outdoors: in the 19th arrondissement, for example, it is very idyllic, in the “Baignade Villette” on the Canal de l’Ourcq. A pontoon on the banks of a very popular canal basin in the middle of Paris, at the Quai de la Loire. The pool is also very busy these days: entry is free, it’s hot in Paris, bathers are queuing up at the entrance to the cordoned-off bank area, and inside they’re crowding around on the deckchairs. You can hear laughter and shouting. Outdoor pool noises. Children splash around in the shallow pool, there are a total of four different ones with bathing depths ranging from 40 centimeters to two meters; They all float, are assembled like Lego bricks, and are firmly anchored in the gentle current of the canal.

“Swimming is safe here,” explains Nessrine Acherar, “we check the water quality two to four times a day.” Acherar is an engineer and is employed by the city as the person responsible for the safety of the sports facilities. The Villette bathroom has been a showcase project since it was commissioned. Acherar brought display boards explaining the uniqueness of the bathroom: the modular design, invented by a Belgian company. The effort the city puts in: with construction in June and dismantling at the end of September. The cost: two million euros. The impressive number of visitors: Since it opened in 2017, around 80,000 people have visited each season every year.

Parisians always love being outside: in the 17th century there was still a lot of bathing in the Seine, back then still naked, although separated into men and women. In the 18th century, so-called bathing boats were popular on the Seine; they were similar to the floating Villette pontoon of today. But with industrialization came dirt, and swimming in the Seine was finally banned in 1923. If everything goes well, you will be able to swim regularly in the river again in 2025. Mayor Anne Hidalgo splashed around in public at the planned Bras Marie bathing area two weeks ago. Measurements afterwards showed that the water was unsuitable for bathing according to European standards.

There is also a warning on the Villette pool website: If the water quality is poor, the pool will remain closed! Today there is a lot of activity, especially in the children’s pool. A girl with dreadlocks jumps from the edge into a ring of water, missing it with a splash. Two boys play around the wooden pool surround with water pistols. They squeal with pleasure. »The city offers swimming courses here; “Overall, Paris has too few swimming pools and too many non-swimmers,” says Acherar.

In the swimmers’ pool just a few meters away, there’s suspiciously little going on, it’s completely empty. Most visitors simply lie in the deck chairs and prefer to let the sun shine on their faces. Maybe they don’t trust peace? The city’s water controls? No, no: “The water is clean here, everyone knows that,” smiles the engineer. »The canal has a slight current towards the Seine and flows into the river. Here is the good Parisian water!”