An Olympics Practice Session in the Seine River Was Canceled Over “Concerns in Water Quality”
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The Olympics are in Paris this year, which...chic! And for reasons that remain slightly confusing, the city *really* wants everyone to get in the Seine, a river that—much like your ex—looks good but is kinda toxic depending on what day it is. But here’s to hoping it’s clean enough to frolic in, because the world’s best athletes are expected to cross their fingers and hope for the best before diving in this thing. Will they come away with radioactive superpowers? Unclear, but it’s been a whole journey. Mostly because...
The Seine Has Historically Been...Full of Shit
To the point where swimming in it has been banned since 1923. Here’s a picture of the Seine in 1990 (she was having an off day, okay?!), when it was so polluted that it was killing local fish in the area.
But nowadays, the vibes are much more like this:
Mostly thanks to Paris’s massive cleanup project to stop sewage and “industrial waste” from seeping into the river, dubbed ~The Swimming Plan~.
Paris Gave the Seine a Major Makeover
^ The Seine getting ready for her moment in the spotlight.
Per the New York Times, the Seine’s cleanup was a “vast engineering project, costing some $1.5 billion over the past several years,” which will ensure events like the triathlon and the Opening Ceremony can take place without anyone, you know, getting violently sick from drinking poop-laden water.
Apparently, the plan hinged on “thousands of new underground pipes, tanks, and pumps designed to prevent damaging bacteria from flowing into the Seine,” especially during storms when everything gets backed up, so to speak.
The Water Was Too Dangerous to Swim in, Like, Recently
Officials have been testing water in the Seine daily to make sure it’s okay for athletes to swim in, and things (things = bacteria) weren’t looking great as of June 23. An anonymous environmental department employee in Paris even told The Sun, “It’s insane that the IOC and the organization of the Olympics had that idea and are now pushing to have the opening ceremony and some competitions in the Seine. The water is very bad—it’s full of dirt and not proper for any activity. Also, the levels of chemicals, human feces, and other dirty things are very high, so bacteria like E. coli are everywhere.”
Nevertheless, on July 17, Mayor Anne Hidalgo decided to risk it all and take an official swim in the river to “prove” that it’s safe.
Still, some Parisians are protesting pollution of the Seine and its use this way by...threatening to poop in it. It started as a joke but quickly became not a joke, and the threats have persisted into the start of the Olympic Games.
However! The men's individual triathlon race on July 30 was also postponed due to poor water quality, per CNN.
A press release noted that “Paris 2024 and World Triathlon reiterate that their priority is the health of the athletes. The tests carried out in Seine today revealed water quality levels that did not provide sufficient guarantees to allow the event to be held. Despite the improvement on the water quality levels in the last hours, the readings at some points of the swim course are still above the acceptable limits.”
Did People Actually Swim in It?
Yes! On Wednesday, July 31, triathletes swam in the Seine. They weren’t able to practice or familiarize themselves with the course beforehand due to some delays. If that wasn’t enough to induce stress, there were torrential rains over the weekend that swept tons of wastewater and sewage into the river, which overloaded France’s $1.5 billion system to keep the waterway clean. 😬
After swimming in the Seine, New Zealand racer Ainsley Thorpe told the Wall Street Journal, “It didn’t taste great. It’s a little bit brown.”
As for American racer Seth Rider, he told the publication, “Hopefully, it’s all right because I think I swallowed, like, a liter of water,” while his teammate Taylor Spivey prepared in advance: “I’ve taken lots of probiotics in the last month,” she admitted. Thankfully, most of the athletes didn’t get sick after the triathlon except for Canadian racer Tyler Mislawchuk, who was spotted puking after crossing the finish line.
The winner of the women’s race, Cassandre Beaugrand, also admitted she was sick before the competition because nerves got the best of her. “This morning, I was in total panic. I vomited before the start,” she said, per Reuters. “It was nerves—it’s never happened to me before and in front of the other athletes. Everyone knew I was stressed. It’s not what you want to do.”
At least one Team USA swimmer (Ivan Puskovitch) raised concern before The Big Swim, saying, “At the end of the day, it’s the Olympics and the safety of the athletes has to come first. It’s definitely a big point of anxiety for me especially since this is my first games. The Seine is iconic and it would be amazing to say I was one of the first people to swim in it for a long time. But I would rather compete in the Olympics and have it be a place that isn’t the Seine than not be able to compete at all because the Seine was the only option.”
Meanwhile, Bloomberg notes that swimming in dirty water can lead to unfortunate side effects, like in 2012 when “hundreds” of swimmers got sick (and four were hospitalized) after a race in the Thames that lead to “nausea, diarrhea, abdominal cramps, or vomiting.”
But a Practice Session After the First Triathlon Was Canceled
Nearly a week after athletes competed in a triathlon at the Seine, the New York Post reported that an August 6 practice session was canceled because of “concerns about water quality in the Paris waterway.” World Aquatics decided to cancel the test run at an early morning meeting, the organization said in a statement.
While another marathon swimming test event is scheduled for August 7, organizers will reportedly meet that morning to decide whether it will still happen. The *actual* marathons are currently scheduled for August 8 and 9.
So, What Happens to the Seine Post-Olympics?
Apparently, the Seine will be available for regular Parisians to swim in! Per the New York Times, “Ms. Hidalgo’s plan is for the river to be used not merely for a handful of Olympic events but also for next year, for public swimming at a few locations.”
Welp. Nothing to say but good luck, Paris!
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