Seine swim contest called off over poor water quality

The swimming contest in Seine River, part of a triathlon test event ahead of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, was canceled on Sunday, the third such cancellation this month, due to the high level of E. coli bacteria in the water, raising concerns for the city's ambition to make the waterway safe for swimming next summer.

A para triathlon swimming test event was canceled on Saturday while the 2023 Open Water Swimming World Cup was called off two weeks ago after heavy rains caused overflows of sewage into the Seine.

"As a precautionary measure and to protect the health of the athletes, the decision has once again been taken to cancel all the swimming races scheduled for today," the organizers said in a statement on Sunday.

The cause of high levels of bacteria in the Seine over the weekend is still being investigated. "To date, we have not yet found an explanation," said Paris Deputy Mayor Pierre Rabadan who is in charge of sport, the Seine and the 2024 Olympics.

Athletes were testing out the water last week to get used to the river currents.

The Paris 2024 Olympics organizers said open water swimming events can and will go ahead in the Seine during next year's Games. They said there is no Plan B, except a contingency plan that will allow swimming events to be postponed for a few days if water quality does not meet standards. "There is no solution to move the event. The triathlon and open water swimming will be held in the Seine next year," said Tony Estanguet, head of the Paris 2024 organizing committee and a three-time Olympic canoe champion.

"The objective was to make the Seine swimmable in 2024."

Back in 1990, Paris mayor Jacques Chirac, who later became the French president, pledged to restore water quality, but the Seine was still not safe for swimming despite all efforts.

The efforts to stage next year's Olympic and Paralympic swimming races in the Seine represent the city government's latest ambition to cleanse the river. For now, heavy rain still poses the biggest risk because it can cause the sewage system in Paris to overflow into the river, polluting it with fecal bacteria.

"We still have a lot of work ahead for the year 2024 … to be able to face exceptional weather like what we have known at the end of July and beginning of August," said Christophe Noel du Payrat, chief of staff of the Paris region authority.

A 1.4 billion euro ($1.5 billion) investment in wastewater management from the state and local governments has made "significant progress" in past years and polluted water overflow into the Seine has been reduced, according to the 2024 Olympics organizers.

Agencies contributed to the story.

chenweihua@chinadaily.com.cn