The mayor of Charleville-Mézières Boris Ravignon bathed in the Meuse on Saturday June 15. He welcomed a “historic moment”, intended to show his constituents that the river is “clean” after the investments made by his municipality in water quality.
The big plunge did take place, but in the Meuse. While the PS mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo had committed to swimming in the Seine before the Olympic Games before postponing her swim, the mayor of Charleville-Mézières, in the Ardennes, Boris Ravignon, bathed in the Meuse Saturday June 15.
The councilor, a former member of the Republicans, put on his swimsuit and did a few swims under the gaze of his constituents. Encouraged to join him, several residents also jumped into the water.
“First swim in the Meuse in Charleville-Mézières! We said it, we did it,” the mayor rejoiced on his social networks, sharing photos of himself all smiles.
The deputy mayor for ecology also took a dip. “It’s a historic day for Charleville-Mézières,” he said to France Bleu.
Show that the Meuse is “clean”
Objective, for elected officials, to show that the water of the Meuse, which crosses the city, is “clean and suitable for swimming without health risk”, indicated the mayor to France 3. Boris Ravignon also welcomed a first “after several decades of interruption” linked to unsatisfactory water quality.
“Since the 1990s, almost 80 million euros have been invested” in order to improve the health situation in the Meuse, assured the mayor.
“There are still prejudices. We don’t realize to what extent we have really improved the quality of water, the treatment of wastewater, the limitation of discharges into the natural environment,” he added. supported at France Bleu.
The councilor reminds, however, that swimming will probably not be daily in the river. “Swimming in a river or open water is not the same as in a swimming pool. We do not have guaranteed water quality all the time. If there had been a big storm last night , for example, we might not be able to swim today,” he said, calling for “education” on the subject.
The mayor indicates that swimming should be open to the general public from summer 2025, when all the facilities will have been installed.
Hidalgo swimming postponed
The mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo was to swim in the Seine on June 23 or June 30 to show the cleanliness of the river shortly before the Paris Olympic Games.
“It’s no longer the priority,” she then said this week, postponing the big plunge without giving a new date. In question, the political context after the dissolution of the National Assembly and the legislative campaign.
For D-Day, Anne Hidalgo also invited Emmanuel Macron to join her. “He will be welcome if he is there,” she declared in mid-May. The head of state assured in April that he had “not changed his mind” and that he too would swim.
