Wearing a full-body wetsuit, Anne Hidalgo plunged into the river near Notre Dame cathedral alongside Paris 2024 chief Tony Estanguet and the top government official for the Paris region, Marc Guillaume.
French president Emmanuel Macron had also been planning to take a dip in the Seine. But apparently the fallout from the snap election he called last month has kept him busy. Ms Hidalgo followed in the footsteps of French sports minister Amelie Oudea-Castera, who swam in the Seine last weekend also wearing a full-body suit.
With the opening ceremony for Paris 2024 just nine days away, and to include an athletes’ parade on boats on the Seine, the 65year-old mayor was cheered as she swam freestyle. “The water is very, very good. A little cool, but not so bad,” the mayor said after the dip.
The cleanliness of the river has been a controversial topic in Paris, particularly since 2015, when Olympic organisers invested around £1.2bn in attempts to filter sewage from the water.
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