Paris organisers unable to confirm Olympic swimming events for Seine – with one month to go

The Seine is set to be a star feature of the Paris Olympics, but with just one month remaining until the opening of the games, heavy rains and pollution are keeping organisers in suspense on whether they will be able to host the open-water swimming events and a leg of the triathlon in the river.

French authorities have spent €1.4 billion ($1.5 billion) in the last decade trying to clean up the river by improving the Paris sewerage system, as well as building new water treatment and storage facilities.

But major storms still overwhelm the waste water network, some of which dates back to the 19th century, leading to discharges of untreated sewage directly into the river.

Watch moreParis 2024: Will the River Seine be Olympics-ready?

Test results published last Friday showed levels of E. Coli—a bacteria indicating faecal matter—were often twice as high as the maximum permitted limit for Olympic swimming during the week of 10-16 June.

Triathlon or duathlon?

“There’s no doubt that the water quality is not there yet,” the top government official for the Paris region, Marc Guillaume, told reporters, while remaining optimistic that dry summer weather would resolve the problem.

Athletes are busy training and trying to ignore the noise.

Read more on FRANCE 24 English

Read also:
Paris Olympics opening ceremony rehearsal postponed due to strong Seine flow
French NGO sounds alarm over Seine pollution levels ahead of Olympics
Paris Olympics must have ‘plan B’ for Seine events, swim champion says