Paris officials confident water quality will improve for Olympians swim in Seine

Paris (AP)

The swimming portion of a practice run for the Olympic triathlon was cancelled Sunday because of concerns about water quality in the Seine River, but Paris officials said they’re confident that triathletes will be able to swim in the city’s famed water way during the actual events this coming week.

The men’s triathlon is scheduled for Tuesday, while the women are set to compete Wednesday. The triathletes were supposed to have a chance to familiarize themselves with the course Sunday, but organisers said they nixed the swimming leg after representatives of World Triathlon, city and regional authorities, and other decision-makers met to discuss water quality tests.

The water quality in the Seine is closely linked to the weather. After heavy rains fell during Friday’s Olympics opening ceremony and showers continued Saturday, the decision was made to cancel the test swim. With no more rain in the forecast, officials said they expect athletes will get the unique experience of racing in the Seine.

“We’ve seen what were the dynamics of the Seine over the past few weeks, and that’s what makes us confident,” Paris Deputy Mayor Antoine Guillou said at a news conference Sunday.

After similar rain events in the past, the water quality has returned to safe levels within 24 to 48 hours, he said.

Olympic organisers on Sunday echoed the confidence of Paris officials.

“We are still very confident with the weather forecast for the next 48 hours, the water quality will improve,” Paris 2024 spokesperson Anne Descamps said. “Thanks to all the work that has been undertaken by our public stakeholders, we saw the water quality of the River Seine has improved significantly.”

If concerns persist when race time arrives, the first backup plan is to postpone the triathlon events by a few days. If the water quality still isn’t good enough, the swimming portion of the triathlon will be cancelled and the athletes will only compete in the running and biking portions.

Triathletes, however, have expressed hope that the waters would be clean enough for them to swim in.

Swimming in the Seine has been banned for over a century, in large part due to poor water quality. Paris spent 1.4 billion euros ($1.5 billion) to prepare the river ahead of the Olympics. In addition to the swimming portion of the triathlon, the marathon swimming event also is expected to be held in the river later in Games.

Among the measures taken to improve the water quality was the construction of a giant basin to capture excess rainwater and keep waste water from flowing into the river, renovating sewer infrastructure and upgrading waste water treatment plants. Friday’s rainfall did trigger the use of the basin built near the Austerlitz train station, causing it to become about 20 per cent full, Guillou said.

Daily water quality tests in early June indicated unsafe levels of the faecal bacteria known as E. coli, followed by recent improvements. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo took a famous dip in the river less than two weeks before Olympic events were set to start, fulfilling a promise to show that the long-polluted water way was clean enough to host swimming competitions.

Tests by monitoring group Eau de Paris showed levels were acceptable as of Tuesday, the most current data posted online, but that was before the most recent rains.

Paris officials declined Sunday to release more current data, saying the governing bodies of each sport have the measurements and it’s up to them to make decisions on whether events should go forward in the river.

World Triathlon officials said they share the belief of Paris and Olympic officials that the river will be suitable for swimming Tuesday and Wednesday.

Torin Koos, a spokesperson for World Aquatics, said they will “revisit the water quality of the Seine” closer to the marathon swimming events, which have their training day on August 7.