Paris’ Olympic dream dives into turbulent waters: Seine River pollution

With just three months until the Olympic Games start, there’s worry about the Seine River in Paris not being clean enough for swimmers.

This could be a big embarrassment for the French capital.

Despite efforts to make the river cleaner, a group called the Surfrider Foundation says it’s still too polluted for swimming.

Tests done by the organisation over the past six months show that the Seine is still too dirty for swimming safely.

This is a problem because authorities wanted to use the Olympics to show off Paris as a green city, with plans to have events like the triathlon in the river.

Both President Emmanuel Macron and Mayor Anne Hidalgo promised to swim in the Seine before the Games, showing how important it was to clean it up.

But even with a big investment of €1.4 billion in things like water treatment plants, the river isn’t clean enough yet.

Marc Valmassoni, who works for the Surfrider Foundation, is worried about high levels of bacteria like E.coli in the river.

This could be bad for athletes’ health.

And without a backup plan, things are uncertain as the Games get closer.