The Parisians are launched in the Sena River after the prohibition of a century duration

Screams of “It’s hot!” It rang through Sena on Saturday morning when the Parisians threw themselves into the river for the first time in more than 100 years.

The iconic river route of the French capital has closed to swimmers since 1923, with few exceptions, due to pollution and risks raised by river navigation.

After a cleaning project of $ 1.5 billion Linked to the Olympic Games last yearThe authorities say that SENA meets European water quality standards most days.

Mayor Anne Hidalgo, who already took a dip last yearwas there on Saturday morning, holding a transparent bottle full of river water as a sample of confidence. Confirmed environmental authorities Bacteria levels They were well below the official thresholds.

“It’s a childhood dream to have people swimming in Seine,” he said, according to News.

Public swimming is allowed in designated areas of SENA, including two newly built wood covers near the Eiffel Tower and the île Saint-Louis in the center of Paris. Before dawn, a municipal officer spared the last algae patches with a network. Shortly after, a line of anxious Parisians, towels in his hand, waiting for his chance to jump.

Woos and the screams of joy resonated through the banks of the river when the first swimmers entered the emerald green water.

Each swimmer wore a bright yellow life cattle tied around his waist, part of strict security measures imposed by a dozen lifeguards in high visibility vests. The current was weak, enough to gently throw from its limbs, a reminder that it remains a living urban river.

“It is very nice to swim in the heart of the city, especially with the high temperatures we have had lately,” said Amine Hocini, a construction worker of 25 years in Paris. “I am surprised because I thought I was going to be cooler and, in fact, it is much warmer than I thought.”

Taking a dip outside the designated areas is still prohibited for safety reasons.

From the terrace, the tourists and the morning runners stopped to look. Some applauded when the swimmers climbed the steel stairs, smiling and dripping. Others, such as François Fournier, remained skeptical.

“I will not risk frankly,” said Fournier, who lives on the banks of the river and observed the scene from a bridge above. “I have seen things that you cannot imagine floating in the Seine, so I will wait for it to be really clean.”

Floating debris still swayed here and there, a lost leaf, a plastic wrapping, but the smell was barely remarkable: without smell of strong wastewater, just an eartoma aroma, similar to the river.

“This is very elegant, swimming in Sena, along with île Saint-Louis,” said Lucile Woodward, 43, a resident. “There are some apprehensions, of course, every time you go swimming somewhere, but I think this is one of the most proven areas in the world now. I don’t think the City Council can afford to have some problem.”

He added with a smile: “My skin is fine.”

The promise of raising the swimming prohibition dates back to 1988, when the then reach of Paris and the future president, Jacques Chirac, advocated for the first time for his reversal.

“One of my predecessors, then mayor of Paris, dreamed with a Seine where everyone could swim,” President Emmanuel Macron wrote in X, describing the movement as the result of a “collective effort” and a moment of “pride” for France.

With record temperatures Upon arriving in Europe, including the second most warm June of France since the records began in 1900, the authorities said that Parisians adopt the relief of refreshing swimming. Swimming places will be open until August 31.

News contributed to this report.

• Paris
• France