Macron Says he'll Swim in Seine as he Inspects Paris' New Olympic Village

France's President Emmanuel Macron, center left, and General Manager of Solideo Nicolas Ferrand, left, visits the Paris 2024 Olympic village during its inauguration ceremony in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. (Ludovic Marin, Pool via AP)
France's President Emmanuel Macron, center left, and General Manager of Solideo Nicolas Ferrand, left, visits the Paris 2024 Olympic village during its inauguration ceremony in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. (Ludovic Marin, Pool via AP)
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Macron Says he'll Swim in Seine as he Inspects Paris' New Olympic Village

France's President Emmanuel Macron, center left, and General Manager of Solideo Nicolas Ferrand, left, visits the Paris 2024 Olympic village during its inauguration ceremony in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. (Ludovic Marin, Pool via AP)
France's President Emmanuel Macron, center left, and General Manager of Solideo Nicolas Ferrand, left, visits the Paris 2024 Olympic village during its inauguration ceremony in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. (Ludovic Marin, Pool via AP)

French President Emmanuel Macron boldly promised to swim in the River Seine being cleaned up for the Paris Olympics as he toured the new complex that will house athletes on Thursday.
Macron cited pollution-reduction in the Seine as one of the Games' positive long-term impacts. He noted “extraordinary” public-funded investments being poured into making the river — largely off limits to bathers since 1923 — swimmable again.
Asked by a journalist whether he would bathe in it, Macron replied, “Me, yes, I'll go."
But he refrained from saying when.
“I'm not going to give you the date: There's a risk you'll be there,” he said.
Regardless of whether he does indeed don trunks, Macron's visit to the future high-security Olympic village served to highlight how the Paris Games are helping to transform some disadvantaged neighborhoods in the French capital's poorer suburbs, The Associated Press reported.
The eco-friendly village led to nearly 2,000 jobs being created, with 1,136 going to local residents. It cost about 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion), most of it investment by property developers but also including 646 million euros ($700 million) from public funds. The Olympic construction company, Solideo, transferred the village to Paris Games organizers on Thursday, symbolically handing over a large key, with Macron watching.
“It's a very big day,” Macron said. “It's a demonstration that France is a nation of builders.”
In a city repeatedly hit by deadly extremist attacks, security is the biggest challenge for organizers as they ready Paris for the July 26-Aug. 11 Games and Aug. 28-Sept. 8 Paralympics.
“Obviously, it's been an obsession since the beginning.” Macron said. “We have a colossal amount of work being done in advance."



‘Flooding Rains’ Threaten to Dampen Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony

Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)
Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)
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‘Flooding Rains’ Threaten to Dampen Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony

Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)
Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)

The Paris Olympics look likely to get off to a soggy start.

Meteo-France, the French weather service, is predicting “flooding rains” Friday evening when the opening ceremony is set to unroll along the Seine River. But the show is set to go on as planned, starting at 1:30 p.m. EDT/7:30 p.m. CEST and should last more than three hours.

Already in the late afternoon, skies were gray with intermittent drizzle. There was a silver lining, though, with temperatures expected to stay relatively warm throughout the evening.

Instead of a traditional march into a stadium, about 6,800 athletes will parade on more than 90 boats on the Seine River for 6 kilometers (3.7 miles). Though 10,700 athletes are expected to compete at these Olympics, hundreds of soccer players are based outside Paris, surfers are in Tahiti and many have yet to arrive for their events in the second week, organizers said Thursday.

Hundreds of thousands of people, including 320,000 paying and invited ticket-holders, are expected to line the Seine’s banks as athletes are paraded along the river on boats.