The Seine River was given the green signal to hold the Olympic Games event after months of speculation and rumours about its cleanliness and hygiene levels.
As per a last-minute test held on 31st July 2024, the Paris organizers and World Triathlon, the sport’s governing body in a press release stated “The results of the latest water analyses, received at 3:20 a.m., have been assessed as compliant by World Triathlon allowing for the triathlon competitions to take place.”
However, Belgium’s Jolien Vermeylen after participating in the women’s triathlon has called out the Paris Olympics committee for how “dirty” the Seine River felt to her.
30-year-old triathlete swam in the river on Wednesday and finished 24th, however, it was the experience of swimming in the Seine River that left a mark on her more than anything. Vermeylen during her 1500-meter swim claimed she could feel debris while in the water.
Speaking with Belgian TV channel VTM she said, “While swimming under the bridge, I felt and saw things that we shouldn’t think about too much.”
She further spoke about how she ingested a good amount of the water and “We’ll know tomorrow if I’m sick or not.” She also said, “It (Seine River water) doesn’t taste like Coca-Cola or Sprite, of course.”
Called Out Olympic Officials
Vermeylen further called out the officials who gave the green light claiming that the water was safe for athletes.
The events in the Seine River were held after officials confirmed that the water was clean and safe for competition even though reports were circulating about there being high levels of E. coli and bacteria of other kinds still being present in it.
In June a CBS report claimed that tests found the E. coli bacteria levels in the river water to be 10 times above the acceptable levels.
E. coli is a relatively harmless bacteria that lives in healthy intestines, but exposure to contaminated food and water could result in diarrhoea, urinary tract infections, pneumonia, and more. Water could get polluted if exposed to human or animal stool, and this could spread the bacteria if it is not disinfected properly.
According to reports, organisers had said, “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.”
Even after that, officials were insistent that the triathlon’s swimming part and marathon swimming events could be held in the river without any danger.
Vermeylen also said, “The Seine has been dirty for a hundred years, so they can’t say that the safety of the athletes is a priority. That’s bulls**t!”
She further commented about how she did take precautions from her end, it remains to be seen if they worked. “I took pro-biotics, I drank my Yakult, I couldn’t do more. I had the idea of not drinking water, but yes, it failed.”
“It was now or never, and they couldn’t cancel the race completely either. Now they just have to hope that there won’t be too many sick athletes.”
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What Is The Seine River Issue?
Seine River besides circulating the picturesque area of the Eiffel Tower and the Champs-Elysees, is also known for being so polluted that swimming in it has been banned by law for almost a century now, since 1923.
The aim to hold some of the Olympic events like the swimming portion of the triathlons and the marathon swimming events was very ambitious, but it has come at the cost of a lot of scrutiny.
Paris is reported to have splurged almost $1.5 billion toward the cleanup of the river including infrastructure developments like a giant basin being constructed that capture excess rainwater and prevent wastewater from contaminating the river. Wastewater treatment plants and sewer infrastructure were also given upgrades to ensure the Seine River water would be clean.
This came after Belgium’s Olympic committee on 4th August stated that it would be withdrawing its team from the mixed relay triathlon and the men’s triathlon was delayed by a day because the swimming part of the training sessions was cancelled due to increased bacteria levels in the river.
Recently, the training for open water swimming in the River Seine has also been cancelled because of concerns over pollution in water making this the fifth time that this has happened.
Organisers have said that both the warm temperature and the sun’s ultraviolet rays would help to kill germs in the water.
Paris Deputy Mayor Pierre Rabadan also stated to reporters “It’s not about deciding to swim or not. There are rules. There are European regulations. We take samples every day to know whether the water quality is good enough to swim. It’s rather factual.”
Vermeylen is not the only Olympian speaking out about how polluted the Seine River was with Rachel Klamer also telling RTL Nieuws that “Swimming in the Seine was disgusting,” and how “The water was dirty, and the conditions were unfair. A lot of swimmers came out of the water behind me who are actually faster. The swimming was really a lottery.”
Three more of the 100 triathletes who competed in last Wednesday’s men’s and women’s races also fell ill in the days following the event, however, it is not confirmed whether it was due to the water of the river or something else.
Vetle Bergsvik Thorn of Norway, participating in the Monday event also fell sick, experiencing a bad stomach illness for about 12 hours, however, clarified that “it’s hard to say if it’s the river or just some ordinary food poisoning.”
He further added, “It’s been quite a few stressful days with not knowing if we can swim or not.”
According to reports, Swedish triathlete Tilda Månsson three days after taking part in the women’s triathlon was sick on Saturday, Adrien Briffod another triathlete also withdrew from the Monday event after contracting a stomach infection, as per Swiss officials along with his replacement Simon Westermann also withdrawing due to gastrointestinal infection.
Image Credits: Google Images
Feature image designed by Saudamini Seth
Sources: Hindustan Times, The Guardian, Time
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This post is tagged under: olympics 2024, swimmer olympics, Paris Olympics triathlete, belgium, belgium swimmer, Belgium Olympic committee, seine, seine swimmer, seine paris, seine dirty, seine paris dirty, Jolien Vermeylen, Jolien Vermeylen seine, Jolien Vermeylen belgium, Jolien Vermeylen paris olympics, Jolien Vermeylen olympics 2024, Olympics, olympics 2024 news, olympics 2024 swimming, summer olympics
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