Are Olympians Swimming in the Seine River? What Officials Have to Say About E. Coli and Health Concerns
Ever since Paris, France, announced they would have Olympic athletes swim in the Seine River as part of the 2024 Summer Olympics, controversy has ensued. There have been many concerns over the river's state, the diseases it holds and its history of legality as related to swimming and swimming events. The country – and even Paris’ mayor, Anne Hidalgo – assured everyone that all those issues would be resolved before the Games, but as of July 29, 2024, no athletes have competed in it as part of an Olympic event. To find out why, and if they ever plan on swimming in the Seine, keep reading.
Are Olympians swimming in the Seine?
As of July 29, 2024, no athletes have competed in the Seine River. They were supposed to do a dry run of the Olympic triathlon on Sunday, July 28, 2024, but it was canceled because of concerns over the water quality and heavy rains. Even the Games’ opening ceremony was impacted by the rainfall.
A press release explained that, "Paris 2024 and World Triathlon reiterates that the priority is the health of the athletes. The tests carried out in the Seine yesterday revealed water quality levels that in the view of the international federation, World Triathlon, did not provide sufficient guarantees to allow the event to be held. This is due to rain that has fallen on Paris on 26 and 27 July and the impact it had on the Seine river."
Past water quality testing of the Seine River water has confirmed that the water contains E. coli — which can cause diarrhea, pneumonia, UTIs and food poisoning.
However, Olympics officials are confident that the river will be swimmable in time for the men’s triathlon scheduled for Tuesday, July 30, 2024, writing in that same press release, “Given the weather forecast for the next 36 hours, Paris 2024 and World Triathlon are confident that water quality will return to below limits before the start of the triathlon competitions on July 30.”
The Olympics are ready to push both triathlon events back a day though if the water isn’t healthy.
How do athletes feel about swimming in the Seine?
Both the triathlon and marathon swimming legs are set to take place in the Seine, with U.S. competitor Taylor Spivey telling The Athletic, “I’ve definitely swam in far more stagnant, questionable bodies of water throughout my career as a professional triathlete.”
“No one wants to get sick, but we also want to swim; we train to swim, bike, and run. We saw this same topic of discussion leading into both the Rio (2016) and the Tokyo Olympic Games. It’s always a concern, but it also feels like the same hype we’ve seen in the past,” Spivey continued. “We swam in the Seine at the Paris test event last year, and to my knowledge, no one got sick from the water quality.”
Spivey is set to compete in the women’s triathlon on Wednesday, July 31, 2024, at 2:00 a.m. EST.
Where will the Olympic athletes swim if they can’t use the Seine?
If the Seine River is deemed too unsafe on the day of competition, the marathon swimming athletes will use the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium.
The stadium is hosting all the Olympic water sports including rowing, canoe and kayaking events.
The triathlon is a different story, though. If the Seine’s water conditions don’t improve, Olympics officials are ready to cancel the swimming portion of the event entirely.
Says Spivey: “Hopefully we get a swim, bike and run because I don't swim this much to just run and bike.”
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