Olympic Triathletes Competing Against Peers and Pollution in Seine River

Triathletes and marathon swimmers at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris are battling more than just their peers in the Seine River.

Jul 31, 2024; Paris, France; A general view as athletes dive into the Seine River at the start of the men's triathlon during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at Grand Palais-Pont Alexandre III. / Andrew Nelles-USA TODAY Sports

The 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris have provided athletes and viewers with some incredible venues to perform their disciplines and take in all of the action. The Eiffel Tower, Grand Palais and La Concorde urban park have all been used as backdrops or venues for temporary structures.

Things have gone out without a hitch at those venues. The same cannot be said about the Seine River, where triathletes and marathon swimmers are battling the elements in addition to their competitors.

On Monday, the mixed relay triathlon event took place but in less-than-ideal conditions. Since 1923, swimming in the Seine River has not been allowed, except on rare occasions, because of how polluted the water is.

Organizers said that the bacteria levels in the water were at an acceptable range but it is hard to imagine athletes not feeling gross jumping into the river for the events. Hours before the event, it was still up in the air whether the relay would go off.

“Representatives from World Triathlon and the International Olympic Committee along with Paris Games organizers and regional and weather authorities met Sunday night to review water tests. The results indicated the water quality at the triathlon site had improved over the preceding hours and would be within the limits mandated by World Triathlon by Monday morning, they said in a statement,” as written by Kate Brumback and Tales Azzoni of the Associated Press.

Despite all of the issues with the water, viewers were provided with a lot of excitement during the competition. A spring finish occurred with Germany coming away with the gold medal. The United States took home silver with Britain earning bronze.

One team, the representatives for Belgium, pulled out of the competition on Sunday. They cited one of the swimmers, who partook in another event in the lake last week, became sick.

At least three more triathletes also became sick in the days following an event in the Seine River. However, it is unsure if the bacteria levels in the water are what led to the illnesses.

There were over 100 triathletes in men’s and women’s taking part in the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris. Three athletes falling ill isn’t a big percentage in the grand scheme of things, but if the water is what led to them getting sick, questions will be asked for a long time about why there weren’t other plans put in place.

It is something that Pierre Rabadan, the Paris Deputy Mayor, has not liked answering questions about.

“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,” he told reporters on Monday, via the AP.

A massive amount of money was spent trying to get the Seine River to acceptable levels. 1.4 billion euros (1.5 million American dollars) was spent on improving infrastructure. But, Mother Nature had other plans, as rain has led to increased pollution levels in the water. The men’s individual triathlon was delayed a day because of bacteria levels.

On Tuesday, a test swim was planned for marathon swimmers so that they could acclimate themselves to the course. But, that was canceled as more concerns about the bacteria level popped up.

Confidence is still high that the event will be held in the Seine River as originally planned. Anne Hidalgo, the Paris Mayor, shared the same sentiment.

“We will of course wait to get the results of the water quality but the event will take place because there’s been a clear improvement of the weather these past few days,” she said. “So I’m really proud and happy and to all those who want to continue saying it’s impossible to depollute a river, I tell them, ’Yes it’s possible, we did it.’”