Last month, Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo made a big deal out of taking a dip in the Seine River, which has historically been far too polluted to swim in due to longstanding health concerns over its water quality.
“The Seine is exquisite,” Hidalgo told reporters. “The water is very, very good. A little cool, but not so bad.”
Leading up to the Olympics this summer, organizers have spent a whopping $1.5 billion to revitalize the French capital’s sewer system to make the river swimmable in time for the games.
But despite their best efforts, there are clearly still dangers to swimming in the Seine. Over the weekend, Belgium’s Olympic team announced it had forfeited a Monday triathlon competition after one of its athletes became sick after swimming in the river last week.
According to Belgian newspaper De Standaard, triathlete Claire Michel had been hospitalized and treated for an E. coli infection.
While most kinds of E. coli are harmless, some can result in diarrhea, urinary tract infections, pneumonia, sepsis or death.
Switzerland’s Olympic team also had to replace its triathlete, Adrien Briffod, due to a gastrointestinal infection, but as CNN reports, it’s unclear if the infection was related to the Seine’s water quality.
Meanwhile, Paris 2024 organizers were adamant that the water quality was “very good” on the days of the triathlete events.
“Paris 2024 wishes to remind everyone that the health and wellbeing of athletes is our top priority,” officials wrote in a statement. “With respect to competitions held in the Seine, water quality tests are carried out daily, and the decision on whether to proceed with an event is taken by the International Federation World Triathlon, in coordination with Paris 2024, and based on the results and a range of (notably health) criteria.”
As a result, officials announced that today’s triathlon events will proceed as planned, despite Michel and Briffod falling ill.
Water quality can rapidly change, especially due to rainfall events. According to CNN, levels of E. coli spiked the day after heavy rainfall in late June.
Athletes are understandably wary of the conditions they have been subjected to.
“We’re lucky enough to have probably the most beautiful venue of any race in the Olympics,” men’s gold medal winner Alex Yee told reporters last week after a race. “And I guess that came with a small penalty of the risk of the Seine being dirty.”
“It doesn’t taste like Coca-Cola or Sprite, of course,” Belgian triathlete Jolien Vermeylen and Michel’s fellow team member, told Dutch TV station VTM last week. “While swimming under the bridge, I felt and saw things that we shouldn’t think about too much.”
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Source Agencies
