Paris mayor swims in Seine River amid E. coli bacteria concerns ahead of Olympics

As the Paris Olympics rapidly approach,the topic of safety has gradually made its way into the spotlight. When I first heard about the project to clean the Seine, it was still in its early stages. Honestly, I was both amazed and incredibly dubious on whether it could be done by the summer, given the task of cleaning decades of pollution in such a short amount of time. However, when I saw a NYT article about the mayor taking a dive into the Seine,I thought the efforts had been successful! After all, if the mayor can swim in it “safely”, why shouldn’t everyone be able to? A few days later, I came across numerous articles discussing the amount of remaining bacteria, including E. coli, in the waters. This was shocking, as many like me could have seen the initial article and remained unaware of the true circumstances. By allowing the mayor to go in the water, a false sense of safety is created for the public, and allowing the athletes to swim in it is dangerous and irresponsible. In my opinion, it’s always better to be safe than sorry, and if an outbreak of E. coli does occur during the games, it would be disastrous, and France would undoubtedly be held responsible. The games can certainly proceed if France selects a different, safer location. I don’t think it’s too late to make this change to prioritize the athletes’ safety above all else.