France: Swimming in the Seine, once a popular pastime

The mayor of the French capital Anne Hidalgo is set to take a long-awaited dip in the Seine on Wednesday (July 17) to demonstrate the river is clean enough to host the outdoor swimming events at the Paris Olympics, her office said. The event- as well as practice competitions have repeatedly been postponed because of bacteria and high pollution levels in the river. But swimming in the Seine was once a widespread pastime.