Pre-Olympics swimming race in River Seine cancelled due to dirty water

A pre-Olympics swimming test competition due to take place Sunday in the River Seine in Paris has been cancelled due to pollution, the international swimming federation said after analysis of the latest water samples.

A crane on the river Seine in Paris dismantles the temporary venue to host a pre-Olympic swimming test competition after the event was cancelled due to pollution, on 6 August 2023. © AFP - BERTRAND GUAY

Following recent heavy rainfall, "water quality in the Seine has remained below acceptable standards for safeguarding swimmers' health", World Aquatics said in a statement on Sunday.

"Based on this weekend, it is clear that further work is needed with Paris 2024 and local authorities to ensure robust contingency plans are in place for next year."

A training session on Friday had already been cancelled and the women's race was postponed from Saturday to Sunday in the hope the water quality would improve.

Heavy rains for the past week in Paris have caused sewers to overflow, polluting the Seine.

File photo: a microbiology research team takes water samples from the River Seine for analysis on 5 April, 2023. © AP - Christophe Ena

Pierre Rabadan, a deputy to Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo responsible for the Olympics and the Seine, said he was "disappointed" for the athletes.

Speaking to reporters in front of empty pontoons set up for the event, he said real-time readings by city hall indicated a "good" water quality on Sunday morning.

But excessive levels of E. coli bacteria were measured in water samples taken 24 hours previously, he said.

Clean-up ongoing

"World Aquatics is disappointed that water quality in the Seine has resulted in the cancellation of the World Aquatics Open Water Swimming World Cup, but the health of our athletes must always be our top priority," said World Aquatics president Husain Al Musallam.

The federation said it "understands that further infrastructure projects will be completed to significantly improve water quality in the Seine in the lead-up to next year’s Olympic Games".

• Turning the tide: Olympic organisers hope to make murky Seine swimmable again

The organisers of the 2024 Paris Olympics have plans in place to allow them to postpone open-water swimming events by two or three days in the event of storms and heavy rain.

"With one year to go before the Games, the sanitation dynamic is continuing, with the most significant water quality improvement works due to be completed in the coming months, in particular to cope with these exceptional meteorological events," said a joint statement earlier in the week from the Olympics Organising Committee, Paris City Hall and the Ile-de-France region.

Mayor Hidalgo has promised to make swimming in the Seine open to all from 2025, on three sites where swimming has been prohibited since 1923.

(with AFP)