Paris announces date for river Seine to open for swimmers
Three natural swimming pools will open this summer along the river
The river was cleaned for the Paris Olympics in 2024
Pajor Pawel/Shutterstock
People will be able to swim in the Seine from July, when three natural pools are set to open along the famous waterway, Paris City Hall said on Wednesday, 14 May.
The pools, which will be fenced off from the main river by buoys, will open at Bras Marie, Grenelle and Bercy from July 5 to August 31.
Paris City Hall called the pools a “major legacy” of the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, for which the Seine was cleaned at a cost of some €1.4 billion.
Ahead of the Olympics, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo plunged into the waters to prove they were safe enough to swim in.
Events including the triathlon took place in the river. Organisers had promised cleaning the river would ensure locals could continue to use it after the Games had finished.
The areas will allow people a chance to “relax, refresh and access sporting and leisure activities”, City Hall said in a statement.
Read also: What will be the legacy of the Paris Olympics?
The sites will be monitored daily, with water and weather conditions analysed to ensure it is safe to swim. Experts will then decide whether the pools can be opened based on the data.
The three sites open to swimmers will be:
Bras Marie
In the heart of Paris by the Ile-Saint-Louis, it will include lockers, outdoor seating, showers and a first aid station. Close to Paris Plages, temporary artificial beaches that are set up along the Seine every summer.
Opening hours:
08:00 to 11:30 Monday - Saturday
08:00 - 17:30 Sunday
Capacity: 150 people
Swimming area: 70 x 20 metres
Accessible to those with reduced mobility
Bercy
The site in Bercy (12th arrondissement) is located opposite the Bibliothèque nationale de France, on either side of the Simone-de-Beauvoir footbridge, just below Bercy Park.
It will include two pools and a sun deck, split by a barrier from a boating area. Amenities will include showers, lockers and a first aid station.
Opening hours:
11:00 - 21:00 every day
Capacity: 700 people, including 300 in the swimming area
Two pools: 35 x 12.5 metres and 67 x 11 metres
Accessible to those with reduced mobility
Grenelle
Close to the Eiffel Tower, the Grenelle pool will be based around large pontoons with a sun deck.
The site will have a secure pool for families and children and an adjoining site will offer free kayaking.
Services will include changing rooms, lockers, showers and a first aid station.
Opening hours:
10:00 - 17:30 Monday - Friday
10:00 - 16:45 Saturdays
10:00 - 12:00, 12:30 - 14:15 and 14:45 - 17:30 on Sundays
Capacity: 200 people, including 150 people in the swimming area
Swimming area 60 x 20 metres
Accessible to those with reduced mobility
