In Paris, plans for bathing sites in the Seine for 2025 specified

The three swimming areas located in Bercy, on the Marie arm (between Saint-Louis island and Saint-Paul) and the Grenelle arm (not far from the Eiffel Tower) will be “demarcated, secure, signposted and monitored”, indicates the town hall in the draft deliberation which will be submitted to elected officials at the end of May.

Floating pontoons will be installed to “facilitate the surveillance of swimmers” and “prevent swimming outside the demarcated area”, specifies the town hall led by socialist Anne Hidalgo, who wants developments guided by the principles of “sobriety and frugality”.

Bercy swimming (between the Bercy and Tolbiac bridges) will extend over 110 m of banks and will cost six million euros, an "increased" cost due to long-term "safety works" to be able to maintain river navigation on the channel.

The sites of Pont-Marie (75 m long) and Grenelle (80) will cost two million euros each because, located on secondary branches of the Seine, they will not require these works. Their swimming area will extend “on the navigation channel”, specifies the town hall.

The town hall has been negotiating for several months with professional users of the river (freight, riverboats), worried about traffic restrictions, particularly on the Marie arm.

The work will be carried out in spring 2025 to be able to “allow the opening of three swimming sites at the end of June 2025”, specifies the town hall.

Swimming “will be limited to the summer season”, it will be “free and open widely to the public”, says the town hall.

As part of Paris Plages, swimming has already been possible since 2017 in the La Villette basin and since 2023 in the Saint-Martin canal.

The reconquest of the river to allow swimming was boosted with the Olympic Games (July 26 - August 11), with the State and communities investing 1,4 billion euros to build, in particular, the water retention basin. rainwater and wastewater from Austerlitz.

Ms. Hidalgo planned to swim in the Seine around June 23, a month before the triathlon and marathon swimming events.

Suspense nevertheless remains over the good performance of these events, after the cancellation in August 2023 of several rehearsals due to water quality thresholds being exceeded, particularly after heavy rain.