French Sports Minister Swims In Seine River Ahead Of Olympic Games

Amelie Oudea -Castera, a Sports Minister in French took a Symbolic swim in the Seine, on Saturday, in a publicity moment to show French water is clean and ready to stage swimming events at the Olympic Games.

Reasons For Amelie Oudea-Castera Act

There are major reasons that led Amelie Oudea-Castera to dip in the Seine. Seine water has a long history of contamination and is unfit for conducting any Olympic events. Let’s have a look at some of the past cases related to Seine.

In 1923, swimming got banned due to the pollution in Seine

In 1990, Jacques Chirac a mayor, before becoming French President promised that the river would soon be clean enough to swim in and he would celebrate by taking a dip, but he never did.

Last August, the marathon swimming training sessions were canceled because the water was too dirty.

A statement by the French Swimming Federation “Following recent heavy rainfall in Paris, the water quality in the Sejne has currently fallen below acceptable standards for safeguarding swimmers’ health. Consequently, the decision has been taken in consultation with public health and event delivery partners to cancel the training session due to take place at 07:30 on 4 August, ahead of the Open Water Swimming World Cup planned for this weekend.”

Moreover, after the training was canceled, two weeks later para triathlon swimming were also canceled due to the exceptional rainfall, causing water contamination.

Cause Of Seine Contamination 

There could be many reasons for water contamination in Seine, such as,

• For many centuries Seine has been the garbage for every kind of waste, let say, human, animal and even dead bodies.
• Heavy rainfall is also the main reason, as combined sewer systems that carry both stormwater and sewage overflows, discharges waste into the river.
• Historical industry and agriculture activities can also influence the pollution of the river.
• Climate changes, like higher temperatures, can lead to an increase in the growth of algae, affecting aquatic animals.

Triumph of government 

Oudea-Castera, dressed in a swimming costume dove into the Seine to show the water is finally clean and fit for the Olympics.

“We held our promise,” she stated.

Finally, it is a big victory for the government as water is clean now, and can be used for Olympic Games. As stated above, since 1923, there was an ongoing problem with Seine and continued cancellation of training and games. Many politicians promised to make the river fit but it remained unfulfilled. Nobody but Amelie Oudea- Castera fulfilled her promise and in turn led to an overall triumph of government.

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