Barangaroo

• This ban was in place to stop people immersing themselves in river waters polluted by stormwater, sewage and chemicals.
• The clean waters of the swimmable Seine are being promoted as a positive legacy of these games.
• But it’s not the first time Olympic swimming events have been held in the famous river.

A brief history of river swimming

• She is typically represented standing on a boat: clambering over and swimming under the river’s vessels was clearly for mere mortals.
• Swimming in rivers has a very long history related to pleasure and politics.
• Competitive river swimming remained common in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
• Even Chinese leader Mao Zedong used river swimming to promote his health and political image.
• However, like the 1900 obstacle race, organised and informal river swimming in cities became uncommon.

The quest for swimmable cities

• The Seine will reopen for swimming thanks to a €1.4 billion (A$2.3 billion) regeneration project to “reinvent the Seine”.
• It began in 2017 and includes floating hotels, walkways and other social spaces as well as swimming and diving areas.
• The revival of swimming in the Seine is just one example of how outdoor and “wild” swimming is contributing to better caring for rivers.
• While we know this is good for people, public interest in clean, swimmable waterways for our own health, wellbeing and pleasure can also have great benefits for these environments.