Organisers of the Paris Olympics are considering ditching the river Seine for the main swimming event if it is still filthy in a few weeks.
Tony Estanguet, the president of the Paris Olympics committee, said the marathon swim will be moved to the lake in Vaires-sur-Marne outside the capital if efforts to clean it have not been enough by the time the games begin.
His comments are consistent with his position in April when said he was “confident that it will be possible to use the Seine”, but there could be “a final decision where we could not swim”, a situation he said “we want to avoid, of course”.
Getting the Seine ready for the swimming leg of the triathlon and marathon has been a big and expensive job, costing more than €1 billion.
The river has been off limits to bathers since the early 1920s due to high levels of bacteria, and last summer a sewer problem led to the cancellation of a pre-Olympics swimming event.
As early as May, tests revealed levels of e-coli and bacteria were higher than the acceptable limits for sports.
However, Thursday showed some encouraging results, with the quality of the Seine having improved, according to data.
Turning the Olympic triathlon into a duathlon as a result of inadequate planning is an utter and inexcusable failure by the organizing committee.
Is it filthy because people shit in it in protest or because they really couldn’t clean it up in all this time?
et bien merde
Good idea!
Quality is improving, also, if you read the article before answering :
*Data published by the city and regional authorities showed the concentrations of enterococci and E.coli bacteria were below legal thresholds six out of nine days between June 24 and July 2.*
We’re almost there.
The only alternative is to dump a load of bleach up stream before the race.
Hidalgo and the Olympic committee: shocked Pikachu face
Rest of France: No shit Sherlock
Why? after Brazil’s green swimming pools and nasty open water venues, glizty facilities that are crap at the basics are a tradition at the Olympics!
As long as the suits are comfortable and making lots of money, it’s all good!
Glad someone is protecting the swimmers from the sharks.
Why not put it in Caen? Other Olympics have held events outside the main city.
Just have them swim around the lake at Versailles.
12 comments
**From The Telegraph:**
Organisers of the Paris Olympics are considering ditching the river Seine for the main swimming event if it is still filthy in a few weeks.
Tony Estanguet, the president of the Paris Olympics committee, said the marathon swim will be moved to the lake in Vaires-sur-Marne outside the capital if efforts to clean it have not been enough by the time the games begin.
His comments are consistent with his position in April when said he was “confident that it will be possible to use the Seine”, but there could be “a final decision where we could not swim”, a situation he said “we want to avoid, of course”.
Getting the Seine ready for the swimming leg of the triathlon and marathon has been a big and expensive job, costing more than €1 billion.
The river has been off limits to bathers since the early 1920s due to high levels of bacteria, and last summer a sewer problem led to the cancellation of a pre-Olympics swimming event.
As early as May, tests revealed levels of e-coli and bacteria were higher than the acceptable limits for sports.
However, Thursday showed some encouraging results, with the quality of the Seine having improved, according to data.
**More here:** [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/07/05/paris-olympic-games-swimming-seine-filthy-water/](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/07/05/paris-olympic-games-swimming-seine-filthy-water/)
Turning the Olympic triathlon into a duathlon as a result of inadequate planning is an utter and inexcusable failure by the organizing committee.
Is it filthy because people shit in it in protest or because they really couldn’t clean it up in all this time?
et bien merde
Good idea!
Quality is improving, also, if you read the article before answering :
*Data published by the city and regional authorities showed the concentrations of enterococci and E.coli bacteria were below legal thresholds six out of nine days between June 24 and July 2.*
We’re almost there.
The only alternative is to dump a load of bleach up stream before the race.
Hidalgo and the Olympic committee: shocked Pikachu face
Rest of France: No shit Sherlock
Why? after Brazil’s green swimming pools and nasty open water venues, glizty facilities that are crap at the basics are a tradition at the Olympics!
As long as the suits are comfortable and making lots of money, it’s all good!
Glad someone is protecting the swimmers from the sharks.
Why not put it in Caen? Other Olympics have held events outside the main city.
Just have them swim around the lake at Versailles.