After more than a century, a ban on swimming in Paris' River Seine has been lifted as the water is deemed clean and safe enough.
Members of the public swim at the Baignade de Grenelle bathing site at the River Seine on its opening day in Paris, France on July 5, 2025. Tom Nicholson / Getty Images
After more than a century, a ban on swimming in the River Seine in Paris has been lifted. The river has been deemed clean and safe enough for swimming to once again be legal in this iconic waterway.
According to the city’s official tourism office, 11 total swimming areas are reopening across Paris, with three of those sites opening along the Seine. The newly opened supervised swimming areas along the Seine include a spot in Bercy of the 12th arrondissement, which includes two pools and a beach; a spot in the 4th arrondissement in Bras Marie; and a third site at Bras de Grenelle in the 15th arrondissement, across from the Parisian Statue of Liberty.
The supervised swimming areas are free and will accept up to 1,000 swimmers per day until the end of August, The Guardian reported.
According to the BBC, the new swimming sites include lifeguard supervision, changing rooms, showers, beach furniture and enough space for about 300 people to lay out on towels at each site.
However, the swimming sites will undergo daily health checks, which have already led to a temporary shutdown on Sunday, July 6 after rain. As CTV News reported, rain in Paris can cause the city’s sewage system to overflow, presenting bacterial risks in the Seine.
The ban on swimming in the Seine was overturned after a 1.4 billion euro ($1.64 billion) effort to clean up the river and improve wastewater infrastructure in time for the 2024 summer Olympics.
However, despite efforts to improve water quality in time for the Olympic events, pollution led to the cancellation of the Open Water Swimming World Cup. Swimmers were ultimately able to complete the Olympic events in the Seine, but multiple swimmers ended up ill afterward, although it wasn’t clear if the illnesses were tied to water quality, Today reported.
The move to reverse the ban initially began in the 1980s with then mayor and later French President Jacques Chirac.
Since then, the city has worked to connect thousands of homes to an improved sewer system, in addition to improving wastewater treatment plants and increasing rainwater storage to minimize risk of sewage overflows.
Even with the improvements to water and sewage infrastructure, some residents remain cautious about the opened swimming areas.
“I won’t risk it quite frankly,” François Fournier, resident who lives near the river, told AP News. “I’ve seen things you can’t imagine floating in the Seine, so I’ll wait for it to be really squeaky clean.”
However, many people seem eager to take advantage of the new swim sites, which opened over the weekend on July 5 while extreme heat affects France and much of Europe.
“It’s so nice to swim in the heart of the city, especially with the high temperatures we’ve been having lately,” Amine Hocini, a local construction worker from Paris, told AP News. “I’m surprised because I thought it was going to be cooler and in fact, it’s much warmer than I thought.”
