Lorde Shocks Fans After Revealing She Swam in D.C.'s Polluted Potomac River

Superstar singer Lorde has gone viral after revealing she took a dip in the Potomac River.

The musician—whose real name is Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor—left her audience in a "shambles" after her admission, according to one concert goer.

Lorde was performing at The Anthem in Washington D.C on Monday as part of her Solar Power world tour.

During an interlude she sat on some stairs that made up her set as she reflected on the past two years amid the COVID-19 pandemic and other major global events.

"It's a crazy time to be a 20-year-old, 25-year-old," Lorde started.

"I was lying in the Potomac River…I love to swim in the water where I'm playing, it makes me feel like I know you a bit better, somehow."

Lorde continued as she was met with audible gasps of shocks and even laughter. Some audience members in the video could be heard questioning what the singer said about swimming in the river.

"I was lying in the swimmer and I was thinking 'what can I say to these kids tonight?,'" the she said.

She went on to say the crowd "chose me" and that her "mission in life" was to learn from her fans.

"You are the smartest people I have ever met… there's no one smarter than a room full of young, curious people," Lorde added.

Lorde's confession quickly became a trending topic on Twitter with many expressing disbelief that she had been in the Potomac River.

"Lorde just told the crowd at the Anthem that she swam??? In the Potomac??? To get a feel for D.C???? The crowd is in SHAMBLES," wrote one fan on Twitter.

Another added: "lorde just told a dc audience she swam and soaked in the potomac river today and the whole room booed her."

And a third wrote: "The DC in complete shock after Lorde just revealed that she was lying by the Potomac River earlier today."

The 405-mile long river serves as some of the border between Maryland and Washington D.C before running into Chesapeake Bay.

Public swimming in the Potomac has been banned in Washington D.C. since 1971 because of poor water quality but advocate groups are pushing for an end to the ban.

After the concert, Lorde stopped to greet some fans outside the theater who took the chance to ask her if she was feeling unwell after her swim.

She admitted she had been surprised by the audience's reaction to her story during the show, but was happy to be in on the joke.

"Oh. I think all is well. But now I know why you were laughing. I'm happy to be a DC meme you know," Lorde said to her fans.

In June the U.S. House of representatives passed the H.R.7776 bill to begin feasibility studies on public waterways, including the Potomac, in the hopes of improving recreational access to "enclosed swimming areas."

The Potomac Riverkeeper Network has long pushed for swimming in the river to be "safe and accessible to everyone in and around D.C."

It tests the water on a weekly basis during the summer months when water recreation is most popular.

The group's scientists take samples from different parts of the river to a lab and publishes the results online to allow people access information about the state of the water.

The network's campaign also aims to increase awareness of water polluters and how to stop them, help end the dumping of raw sewage into the river and overturn the ban on public swimming.