Parisians are bracing for the the next heatwave - but this time they'll have a novel way to cool off.
Paris City Hall is opening a 100-metre section of Saint-Martin Canal to swimmers, from today (17 June). There are strict rules in place to ensure everyone is kept safe.
The natural swimming pool was due to be open from July-September, but its opening has been brought forward due to the heatwave, when temperatures are expected to reach 40°C on Sunday 21 and Monday 22 June.
The canal will be open to swimmers from 4-8pm, perfect for office workers to enjoy a post-work dip or for anyone wanting to be outside during the cooler hours of the day.
Related"Allow" rather than "ban"
Paris mayor Emmanuel Grégoire announced the opening of the pool in a video posted on his social media, saying that swimming in the Saint-Martin Canal will be allowed "throughout any heatwave".
Swimming in clean, cool water is a proven way to lower your body temperature and protect against serious conditions like heat stroke. The mayor added that there will be lifeguards on duty.
The early opening of the canal swimming pool was decided after an assessment by Paris City Hall.
"A month ago, Paris went through a heatwave. We spent a huge amount of effort stopping young people from swimming when it was 40°C", the mayor goes on to say in his video. "And that way of thinking was really absurd. Rather than spending energy pulling them out of the water, I preferred to work on allowing them to swim safely."
_"_So over the past month we have mobilised a great deal [...] to reverse the logic, so that swimming is allowed" under certain conditions, "rather than banned", he explained at a press briefing.
Alexandra Cordebard, mayor of the capital’s 10th district, said that opening the canal for swimming earlier than planned represented "a new way of tackling climate change and adapting the city".
After the controversy over banned swimming last month, "it was our responsibility to make sure [those swimmers] were safe", the district’s mayor also stressed.
Jumping from bridges into the canal is strickly forbidden
Like Alexandra Cordebard, Emmanuel Grégoire stressed that despite the presence of lifeguards, strict rules still apply in the stretch of the Saint-Martin Canal where swimming is allowed. "In all areas where it is not authorised, [swimming] will remain prohibited", the capital’s mayor explained. "Secondly, even though I can see this is proving a bit difficult, jumping from the footbridges is strictly forbidden", he added.
Water quality, tested and monitored by the regional health agency, will remain the key condition for the basin to be open to swimmers.
Later in the summer, swimmers will also be able to cool off at designated spots along the Seine, after it was reopened for bathing last summer for the first time in a century. Paris hasinvested more than one billion euros to make the water clean enough for use during the 2024 Olympic Games.
Heatwaves are now more frequent, longer and hotter
Studies and scientific bodies are unanimous: heatwaves in Europe are becoming more frequent, hotter and longer because of human-caused climate change.
Météo-France points out that of the 51 heatwaves recorded nationwide since 1947, 34 have occurred since 2000 and 26 since 2011.
Global average temperatures are likely to stay at record or near-record levels this year and over the following four years, the United Nations has warned.
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