Event organizers overseeing the event at the Paris Games are optimistic that triathletes will be able to swim the city’s famous waterway when the race begins on Tuesday. The sport’s governing body World Triathlon and its medical team, along with city officials, are counting on sunny weather and warmer temperatures over the next 36 hours to improve water quality and bring it below the required limits for the organization of the swimming section. The race also includes cycling and running.
World Triathlon made the decision to cancel the early swim practice on Monday following a water quality meeting. Representatives for Paris 2024 and the international triathlon federation said tests carried out on the Seine on Sunday showed water quality levels leading up to training “did not provide sufficient guarantees to allow the race to take place”. The delegation said this was due to recent rain that affected Friday’s opening ceremony.
Swimming in the Seine has been banned for over a century largely due to poor water quality. Organizers have invested 1.4 billion euros ($1.5 billion) to prepare the river ahead of the Olympics. In addition to the triathlon swim port Tuesday and Wednesday, the Seine will be used for the marathon swim races on August 8 and 9.
Daily water quality tests in early June showed unsafe levels of E. coli bacteria, followed by recent improvements. Some of the measures taken to improve water quality include building a giant basin to capture excess rainwater and prevent sewage from flowing into the river, renovating sewage infrastructure and upgrading sewage treatment plants.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo famously took a dip in the river less than two weeks before the Olympics began, fulfilling a promise to show the long-polluted waterway was clean enough to host swimming events.
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