Persistent heavy rain in Paris has put the pre-Olympic swimming open water test events in jeopardy this weekend. The main concern is pollution from the overflow of sewage in the Seine.
Unseasonal downpours have resulted in nearly 104mm of rain falling on Paris in the last three weeks, sometimes in tropical storm mode. This led to the cancellation of Friday’s training session.
“Following recent heavy rains in Paris, the quality of the water in the Seine is currently below acceptable standards for safeguarding the health of swimmers,” said a spokesperson for the French Swimming Federation (FFN). As a result, Friday’s practice session was scrapped after consultation with World Aquatics and French health authorities.
The upcoming World Cup events, scheduled for Saturday (men) and Sunday (women), are crucial test events for the Paris Olympics, which will take place in a year’s time.
However, the heavy summer rains have washed dirt from paths and roads into the water, causing bacterial pollution. Of particular concern is the potentially-deadly E. coli, which can lead to serious intestinal infections.
Based on 42 samples taken in June and July, French authorities had initially given the green light for this weekend’s competition and the swimming leg of the triathlon from August 17-20.
On Friday, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo’s office reassured that “one year from the Games, the sanitation dynamic continues with the completion of the most significant work to improve water quality in the coming months, especially in dealing with these exceptional weather conditions”.
These events also serve as a prelude to the future return of swimming in the Seine, which Hidalgo has promised to allow on three sites where swimming has been prohibited since 1923, starting from 2025.
Organizers of this Olympic event had already planned for the possibility of postponing it by two or three days in the event of storms and heavy rain.
Pollution concerns have frequently plagued Olympic open water swimming. In 2019, swimmers protested against the water quality in Tokyo Bay during the test event for the Tokyo Olympics. Similarly, the polluted Guanabara Bay made headlines during the Rio Olympics in 2016.
