I swam in the Seine so you don't have to (here is what it was like)

You’ve probably already seen the social media photos and had the same WTF reaction I had: The Seine, that powerful waterway that splits Paris into two banks and winds nearly 800 kilometers across northern France before funneling out into the English Channel, has been opened up for swimming.

For a New York resident who spent periodic stretches of time in Paris over the last decade, the idea that you don't swim in the Seine has always seemed as obvious as, well, the fact that you shouldn't fish in the Hudson.

Any river that catches all the runoff from a bustling metropolis that for some is full of opportunity and for others is full of nothing but pollution is probably best left observed on a riverside walk or from the deck of a bateau mouche, right?

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The Seine is officially open to swimmers, but be sure to come early

Apparently not, according to Parisian city officials who, following a $1.5 billion river cleanup project undertaken ahead of last year's Olympic Games, declared water quality standards up to EU standards and acceptable enough to hold a 2025 summer swimming season in a few select parts of it.

Given that the river has been closed to swimmers since 1923, this feels almost as historic an occasion as the 2024 Olympic Ceremony itself: no less so to former Republic President Jacques Chirac, who in 1988 promised Parisians that such a day was just five years away.

He died six years too early to gloat to anyone trying to claim that politicians do not keep their promises.

While there are many reasons one may not unreservedly believe the “it's all good” claims made by government officials, those drawn toward journalism as their profession often have a deep sense of curiosity.

After several days of wavering between the stupidity and stupid appeal of this idea, I decided that I wanted to not just swim in the Seine, but also write about it.

There are three official Paris locations where one can swim until August 31: two in the eastern part of the city at Bercy and Bras Marie, and one in the western part at Grenelle.

Since the latter gives way to views of the Eiffel Tower that I thought would be particularly photogenic and illustrative for this article, it is what I chose to go with when boarding the 6 line from the Parisian apartment I am staying in for the next few weeks.

Any hesitation (and fear of getting diarrhea) I had around swimming in the Seine evaporated when I saw the line of people who had come to the Grenelle location with the same idea on a Saturday.

With only 200 bathers allowed in at a time, few things will make you feel older than standing in a long line of young Australians, Brits, and Americans rattling off all the countries and places they've spent a night during their term abroad for 45 minutes — Croatia! Portugal! Phuket!

But unlike many of the people who came after me, I had not stood in vain: 10 minutes before the bathing site was closed off to newcomers for the day, I was finally allowed in.

Lesson to those who end up coming later in the summer and on weekends in particular: be sure to get there early.

Veronika Bondarenko is seen floating in the stretch of Seine river opened up to swimmers in July 2025.

Image source: Veronika Bondarenko

The Summer of Seine Swimming: Don't swallow the water or swim beyond the buoys

It had all the feel of an ad-hoc beach constructed for urbanites for whom the real one is normally a long ride away. A wooden deck cordons off a small stretch of Quai de Grenelle, with a separate structure for a lifeguard who is unafraid to wield the whistle should anyone pass the buoyed rope marking the other end of the swimming area.

There were also separate bright yellow inflatable buoys that swimmers need to take with them into the water, since without a natural entryway, stepping off the wooden steps lands you straight into depth way beyond a human's height. (A small wading area filled with Seine water has also been created for children who do not want to miss out on the fun).

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The water felt crisp and surprisingly translucent. All around me were smiling faces and people who were clearly feeling the same “am I really doing this?” euphoria.

It can be hard, when it comes to experiences like this, to know even within yourself whether you're having a good time because you truly like something, or because you know you're doing what so few before you have done.

While only time will tell whether the water truly was as safe to swim, as Parisian officials claim, it did not feel particularly different from the many rivers and lakes I swam in every summer during my childhood in Western Canada.

There was a time, in the pre-Covid springs and summers of 2018 and 2019, when the streets of Paris were filled with electric lime scooters racing in all directions. The traffic chaos this created brought with it the inevitable city ban by 2023, but for anyone who caught those months, Paris felt like it was in the Summer of the Scooter.

This latest experience may be a temporary gimmick, or it may be brought back summer after summer. But for now, Paris is officially in the Summer of the Seine Swimming.

Try it, and if you'd rather not, I did it so you don't have to.