French Mayor Swims in Seine, Despite Activists' Plan to Poop in the Famous River
The mayor finally swam in the Seine.
Updated July 18 2024, 2:48 p.m. ET
As far as notable protests go, the French came up with one for the record books. Some folks living in and around Paris have taken issue with the country's decision to invest more than $1 billion into cleaning up the Seine River so that athletes can use the Parisian waters for the 2024 Olympics — and they're vowing to show their disgust by defecating in the newly cleaned water.
As to why the French want to poop in the Seine River to send a message, well that has a lot to do with who promised to take a ceremonial dip in the river just before the Olympics — and after many delays, in mid-July, the Paris mayor finally did. Keep reading to learn more about her swim, and the hilarious poop threats made by the French public.
Paris officials are trying to clean up the Seine River in time for the Olympics.
Officials have spent a lot of money getting the 481-mile river cleaned up ahead of the 2024 Olympic games in the hopes that the water would be safe for swimmers to compete in. Taking a dip in the river has actually been illegal since 1923 because of excessive amount of pollution (more on that below), according to TIME magazine, so getting the waterway back into tiptop shape is historic in more ways than one.
Many officials have tried (and failed) to clean up the Seine over the years, wanting to make it so that city residents had somewhere to swim during hot summer weather. And while it does look like they're poised for success — it's believed that the river will be clean enough to have 26 different designated swimming areas within the body of water by 2025 — the French aren't exactly happy about all this.
Laborers have been protesting in the streets of Paris to demand better working conditions, including increased pay. The France government actually responded to some of these protests in mid-May, and agreed to pay bonuses to civil servants working in Paris during the Olympics, as reported by AP News. Now that the country has made it clear that it has money to spend, French citizens are ready to take drastic action.
Parisians have been planning to poop in the Seine in protest of wasteful spending.
For several weeks, there was a growing movement online for people to organize together ahead of the river's grand reopening by taking a collective dump in it. This celebration was set to take place alongside French President Emmanuel Macron and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo taking the first official swim to prove the water's cleanliness on Sunday, June 23, 2024.
However, the swim — and therefore, the poop protest — was postponed at the last minute.
Ahead of the big day, the two government officials postponed their swim, blaming rainy weather, per Bloomberg.
This was certainly a blow to the activists behind the #JeChieDansLeSeineLe23Juin hashtag (which loosely translates into "I s--t in the Seine on June 23," according to Google Translate) which had been steadily gaining steam on social media since early June.
With President Macron and Mayor Hidalgo's plans for a swim in the Seine postponed, so was the protest. Mayor Hidalgo vowed to reschedule her swim for sometime after the French election, which was July 7 — and she kept that promise.
Mayor Anne Hidalgo finally swam in the Seine in mid-July 2024.
On Wednesday, July 17, 2024, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo donned a wetsuit and goggles, and went for a successful swim in the Seine, describing the water as "very pleasant."
"It doesn't have any taste of mud at all," she said in French after emerging from the water. "It's quite clear." Paris officials now seem confident that Olympic events will be able to use the Seine, but nothing is confirmed yet, per Vulture.
President Macron has not commented on whether he will reschedule his swim in the famous river.
Again, the original swim was technically canceled due to rainfall in May, which may have increased contaminants in the water, per SwimSwam.
When Macron and Hidalgo originally canceled their swim, people wondered if the threat of swimming in a river filled with pooping protesters scared the world leaders into postponing, with the rain serving as a convenient excuse. Some also suspected that the Seine was still not clean enough to swim in, even though the government has already spent billions cleaning it up for the Olympics.
But Hidalgo's July 17 swim is certainly making the public rethink things.
Protesters were disappointed to postpone #JeChieDansLeSeineLe23Juin — and now that Hidalgo swam in the river, it's unlikely the protest will ever happen.
The Seine River has long been plagued by pollution.
A lot of things have contributed to the river's pollution over the years, including flooding, outdated sewer systems, and the boats and ships that travel through the famed waters.
Unfortunately, even modern efforts to get the river into shape have largely failed, including as recently as August 2023, according to the Currents blog, when a planned swim had to be cancelled due to high levels of bacteria in the river.
So, what makes the city so sure they can get the river up to snuff before July? The fact that it has to. The country is really counting on the increased revenue from hosting the Olympic games, and getting the river ready is a crucial piece to seeing that cash influx.
Can you swim in the Seine River?
The short answer is no, you can't swim in the Seine River. Swimming in the river remains illegal, and even current improvements haven't been enough to get the level of bacteria and contaminants low enough so that it's safe to use for recreational purposes. However, now that Mayor Hidalgo has successfully taken a dip, things may be changing.
As for what this all means for the Olympic Games, which kick off on July 26, 2024, we'll just have to wait and see.
This article, originally published on June 5, 2024, has been updated.