Paris residents and tourists have been weighing up whether or not they would swim in the Seine River.

The discussion comes after days of delays and uncertainty over water quality concerns in the iconic Parisian waterway. 

On Tuesday, elevated levels of bacteria delayed the men’s race Olympic triathlon however athletes went ahead on Wednesday after organisers announced the latest tests of the Seine showed compliance with quality standards. 

Despite this discovery, some visitors are not sure they would follow suit and dive into the water. 

“I don’t know. I’m a bit of someone who thinks water can be dirty, like we swim in here and there can be little things touching your legs. But I don’t know, if they tested and they say it’s okay, I will trust the professionals. But I’m not sure if I would swim in it,” Veerle Kuper, a tourist from the Netherlands, said. 

Others are more open to the idea. 

“Yeah, I would (swim). Because when the weather is hot in Amsterdam, I also swim in water over there. So yeah, it’s good. Yeah, I would,” Max van der Duin, a tourist also from the Netherlands said. 

Ahead of the ongoing Olympic Games, Paris-based officials undertook a plan costing more than €1 billion to clean up the long-polluted Seine – and have been steadfast in their insistence that swimming events could safely be held in the river.

They now hope that after so many years where swimming in the Seine was unthinkable, Parisians and visitors alike will start to feel that it’s safe to go back in the water when they see Olympians and Paralympians leading the way.

Euronews