Three weeks before the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Games, Tony Estanguet assured the newspaper “L’Équipe” that there were fallback solutions if the health conditions were not met for swimming in the Seine.
For a long time, the organizers of the Paris 2024 Games refused to discuss a plan B, trying until the end to keep afloat the idea that the open water events would indeed take place in the Seine, as announced from the start. Alas, despite the very heavy investments undertaken, three weeks before the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, it is clear that the conditions are not yet in place to welcome athletes into the Parisian river in complete safety.
Rather than relying on the rain god – whom Parisians have been calling upon in vain for months – the president of COJOP, Tony Estanguet, preferred to present his “Plan B” during an interview with the newspaper ” The Team “For marathon swimming, to guarantee that the athletes can hold the competitions, we have instructed a reserve site, the canoeing and rowing site of Vaires-sur-Marne, which offers all the characteristics to host the events,” he indicated.
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As for the triathlon events, Tony Estanguet said he had “contingency plans to postpone the competitions.” “And as a last resort, the regulations provide that we can switch to duathlon,” he said.
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“We are calm”
The COJOP president nevertheless wanted to be reassuring regarding the state of the Seine. “The quality of the water is improving while we have much higher flows than normal. The decline is announced, which will contribute to strengthening the system. We are confident in our ability to organize competitions in the Seine,” he thus alleged.
In the meantime, too impatient to get the green light from the health authorities, an American decided to throw himself into the murky waters of the Seine on Thursday, July 4, on the occasion of his national holiday. “I might regret having swum,” he told ABC News before entering the river. “But if I come back alive, it will prove that the French have done a good job cleaning the river.”
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And following a brief swim, he declared the water “fantastic” and expressed hope that others would follow his example… starting with Emmanuel Macron. “But I think the president called new elections to avoid swimming in the Seine,” joked our American.
