PARIS (AP) — The swimming portion of a training session for the Olympic triathlon was canceled Sunday because of concerns about water quality in the Seine Riverbut Paris officials said they were confident triathletes would be able to swim in the city’s famous waterway during the actual events next week.
The men’s triathlon is scheduled for Tuesday, while the women’s is scheduled for Wednesday. Triathletes were supposed to get a chance to familiarize themselves with the course on Sunday, but organizers said they ruled out the swim leg after World Triathlon representatives, city and regional authorities and other decision-makers met to discuss water quality tests.
Water quality in the Seine is closely linked to the weather. After heavy rain during Friday’s Olympics opening ceremony and the showers continued on Saturday, the decision was made to cancel the test swim. With no more rain in the forecast, officials said they expect athletes to have the unique experience of racing on the Seine.
“We have seen what the dynamics of the Seine have been in recent weeks and that is what makes us confident,” Paris deputy mayor Antoine Guillaume said at a press conference on Sunday.
After similar rains in the past, water quality has returned to safe levels within 24 to 48 hours, he said.
Olympiakos organizers on Sunday reiterated the confidence of Paris officials.
“We are still very confident in the weather forecast for the next 48 hours, the water quality will improve,” Paris 2024 spokeswoman Anne Descamps said. “Thanks to all the work undertaken by our public bodies, we have seen that the water quality of the River Seine has improved significantly.”
If concerns persist when race time arrives, the first backup plan is to postpone triathlons for a few days. If the water quality is still not good enough, the swimming part of the triathlon will be canceled and the athletes will only compete in the running and cycling parts.
Triathletes, however, have expressed hope that the waters would be clean enough to swim in.
Swimming in the Seine has been banned for over a century, largely due to the poor quality of the water. Paris spent 1.4 billion euros ($1.5 billion) preparing the river ahead of the Olympics. In addition to the swimming portion of the triathlon, the marathon swimming event is also expected to be held on the river later in the Games.
Among the measures taken to improve water quality were construction of a giant basin to capture excess rainwater and prevent sewage from flowing into the river, renovate drainage infrastructure and upgrade sewage treatment plants. Friday’s rains caused the basin built near the Austerlitz train station to be used, leaving it about 20 percent full, Guillou said.
Daily water quality tests in early June showed unsafe levels of the fecal bacteria known as E. coli, followed by recent improvements. The mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo took a famous dip in the river less than two weeks before the Olympics began, fulfilling a promise to show the long-polluted waterway was clean enough to host swimming events.
Tests by follow-up group Eau de Paris showed levels were acceptable as of Tuesday, the most recent data posted online, but that was before the most recent rains.
Paris officials on Sunday declined to release more current data, saying each sport’s governing bodies have the metrics and it is up to them to make decisions about whether events should go ahead on the river.
World Triathlon officials said they shared the belief of Paris and Olympic officials that the river would be suitable for swimming on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Torin Koos, a spokesman for World Aquatics, said they would “review the water quality of the Seine” closer to the marathon swimming events, which have their training day on August 7.
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Associated Press writers Jerome Pugmire, Pat Graham and Paul Newberry in Paris contributed.
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