Making the Seine Swimmable for the Olympics

...a laudable goal, or temporary band-aid?

Divers plunge into Paris’ Seine River during the 1900 Summer Olympics. Public domain

Dear Subscribers,

In 1923, enthusiastic bands of bathers and swimmers who had taken to the Seine River for daily exercise were handed some terrible news: pollution levels had become too dangerous, and “la baignade” in the river would now be strictly forbidden.

Since then…