“We prefer to swim in the wild,” says Omar, as he and his friends launch themselves one after another into the Marne. Wild swimming is banned in this part of the river, except at a few newly designated sites — legacies of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. “There are a lot of dangers you don’t see,” warns Lieutenant Ronan of the Paris river brigade, who is on patrol as France records a rise in drowning deaths at the start of the summer. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES