Following a year of accelerated water purification projects along the Seine, the French sports minister, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra took a dip in the Seine to ease concerns about its water quality before the start of the Paris Olympics.
Paris has invested €1,4 billion (R28,6bn) over the past year in cleaning up the Seine in preparation for it to be used in the Paris Olympics.
Oudéa-Castéra, dressed in a body suit, dived into the river and swam a few metres near the Alexandre III bridge, where the Olympic open water swimming competition is to be held. She was accompanied by Alexis Hanquinquant, who is the Paralympic flag bearer for France.
Some say diving into the Seine might be crazy - according to euronews.com, the Seine was still testing positive for the presence of bacteria such as E coli towards the end of June.
In May this year, the French government announced that five anti-pollution plants along the Seine and Marne would come on stream in the weeks leading up to the Games.
Despite the massive investment in clean-up projects and anti-pollution plants, concerns about the safety of the water quality remain.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo also plans to take the plunge in the Seine to prove its cleanliness.
