French sports minister swims in Seine in splashy boost for Paris Olympics organisers

With the water quality of the River Seine meeting required standards over the past few days, French Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera on Saturday swam in the river in a boost for Olympics organisers ahead of the July 26 kickoff. The question of whether the river will be consistently clean enough for official swimming events to be held in it has kept Paris officials on tenterhooks for months.France\'s Minister of Sports and the Olympic and Paralympic Games, Amelie Oudea-Castera, left and Tokyo 2020 Paralympics Triathlon gold medalist Alexis Hanquinquant gesture ahead of swimming in the River Seine, Paris, Saturday, July 13, 2024.Advertising Read moreFrench Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera swam in the Seine on Saturday, raising hopes the river will be clean enough for competitors at the Paris Olympics which start in less than a fortnight.The 46-year-old was accompanied by para-triathlete Alexis Hanquinquant, who will be host nation France\'s flag-bearer at the Paralympics opening ceremony on August 28.To display this content from X

(Twitter), you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement. Accept Manage my choicesWeather permitting, the river will be the star of the opening ceremony of the Olympics on July 26 and will then host the triathlon and the open water swimming.Oudea-Castera, dressed in a body suit, slipped as she entered

the Seine, but stole the thunder from Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, with whom she has notoriously poor relations.Hidalgo had flagged up that she would swim on July 17 if the water quality was good enough.Oudea-Castera seized her opportunity — exclusively filmed by news channel BFMTV — a day after Paris city hall said the Seine has been clean enough to swim in for most of the past 12 days.The quality of the water met the required standard for "11 days or 10 days" of the past 12, city hall official Pierre Rabadan told broadcaster RFI.Read moreSeine met swimming standards for past several days, Paris says ahead of OlympicsThe Paris region has seen an unseasonably heavy amount of rain over recent weeks, which has raised the Seine\'s pollution levels as untreated sewage is washed into the river."We hope the weather will get a little better, but we are not worried about the possibility of holding the competitions," Rabadan said. "They will take place."He added, however, that there may have to be "modifications", without giving details.Weather in Paris is forecast to be mostly dry over the final 14 days before the start of the Games.(AFP)Daily newsletterReceive essential international news every morning Subscribe