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00:00It's a gigantic structure, meant to bring Paris one step closer to its promise of hosting
00:06the Olympics free swimming events in the Seine.
00:10The Games serve as a pretext, an accelerator, but above all, we do this for the long-term
00:14legacy, and on a personal level, I think it's wonderful.
00:19This is exactly our vision for these Olympic Games, games that serve a territory, the residents,
00:24and the environment too, because there is less pollution in the natural environment.
00:30Last year's test events in the Seine had to be cancelled due to poor water quality.
00:35One reason was heavy rains that overwhelmed the city's old sewers, causing them to overflow
00:40into Paris' main river.
00:42At an estimated cost of 1.4 billion euros, this reservoir aims to collect stormwater
00:47and overflowing sewage and domestic wastewater before directing them to treatment centres.
00:52This structure enables us to move the events back a few days in case there are major climate
01:00shocks, but we won't have to cancel them altogether.
01:06For decades, the Seine was mainly used as a waterway for the transport of goods and
01:10people, and sometimes as an open-air dump for industries and citizens.
01:17Swimming there has mostly been prohibited since 1923.
01:21But the threat of a faun, or disease, won't stop these Parisians.
01:24They've already been swimming in the Seine for over a year.
01:29This part of the canal looks relatively clean.
01:32We go swimming and we've never really had any health problems.
01:35On the other hand, the Seine in central Paris seems a bit dirtier.
01:39So it's already swimmable and we're already enjoying it a lot.
01:45The river Seine is also said to be at the heart of the grandiose opening ceremony of
01:50the Olympics, although these plans could change for security reasons.