マクロン氏、セーヌ川で「泳ぐ」宣言 パリ五輪向け浄化強調

【パリＡＦＰ＝時事】フランスのエマニュエル・マクロン大統領は２月２９日、パリ五輪・パラリンピックへ向けてセーヌ川が浄化されたことを強調する取り組みの一環として、自らが泳いで見せると発言した。（写真はパリ北部サンドニに建設されたパリ五輪・パラリンピックの選手村の落成式に出席するエマニュエル・マクロン仏大統領＜中央＞）
　パリ北部にある選手村の落成式に出席したマクロン氏は記者団に対し、「泳ぐつもりだが、日程は教えない。あなた方がいる危険があるから」と笑顔で語った。
　７月２６日に開幕する五輪・パラリンピック期間中、オープンウオータースイミングとトライアスロンの競技で使用されるセーヌ川の水質改善は、時間との戦いになっている。
　当局はセーヌ川とその支流マルヌ川の水質を改善するために、１４億ユーロ（約２３００億円）を費やし下水と雨水の処理施設を改良した。だが、昨年セーヌ川で行われた三つのテスト大会は、高レベルの大腸菌が検出されたために中止に追い込まれた。
　マクロン氏以外にパリのアンヌ・イダルゴ市長も、五輪開催前にセーヌ川に入ると約束している。
　市長室では五輪終了後、セーヌ川に３か所の公共水浴場を造る計画。実現すれば、１９２３年に禁止されて以来、初めてセーヌ川での遊泳が合法となる。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】

〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/03/01-18:42）

French President Emmanuel Macron promised Thursday that he would take a swim in the Seine as part of efforts to highlight how the river has been cleaned up for the Paris Olympics.
I'll do it, but I won't give you the date. You all risk being there, Macron told reporters with a smile Thursday as he attended a ceremony to inaugurate the Olympic village in northern Paris.
French authorities are in a race against time to improve the water quality of the Seine which is set to be used for open-water swimming and the triathlon during the July 26-August 11 Olympics.
They have spent 1.4 billion euros ($1.5 billion) upgrading sewage and storm water treatment facilities in the Paris region to improve the water quality of the Seine as well as its major tributary, the Marne.
But three test events in the Seine last year had to be cancelled because of elevated readings of E.Coli, a bacteria found in human waste, and heavy rainfall prior to the Olympics could result in the events being cancelled, organisers concede.
Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo has also promised to take a dip in the river ahead of the Games.
The mayor's office plans to create three public bathing areas on the river after the Olympics, making it legal to swim in the Seine for the first time since it was banned in 1923.
For people in the Paris region, we will have the Seine and Marne which will have changed in image and use, Macron added, calling it an important legacy of the Games.
The Seine will play a central role during the Paris Olympics, with national sports teams set to sail down the historic waterway during a spectacular opening ceremony being planned for July 26.
Organisers had a fright earlier this month when a tourist boat collided with one its bridges, causing structural damage that has led to part of it being closed to traffic.
There's no risk of us being unable to strengthen the bridge before the ceremony, deputy mayor Pierre Ramadan told AFP earlier this week, referring to the Sully bridge near the Ile Saint-Louis.
Macron, 46, has previously played football, tennis and boxed in public and is hoping that the Olympics sparks an uptick in sporting activities across France.