admin With three weeks remaining until the Paris Olympics, organisers are developing contingency plans due to ongoing concerns about the safety of the River Seine, which is set to host open-water swimming events during the summer Games.
The latest test results from the monitoring group Eau de Paris, released on Thursday, offer some hope, showing that water pollution levels in the River Seine have improved over the past week.
According to data published by the city of Paris, the concentrations of E.coli and enterococci bacteria were below legal thresholds on six out of nine days between 24 June and 2 July.
“Despite a flow rate that remains high, the water quality of the Seine has improved over the period observed, with water quality in line with the thresholds defined by the European directive over six days,” the city said in a statement along with the results.
Just a week ago, test results indicated that enterococci levels exceeded a concentration of 1000 colony-forming units (cfu) per 100 ml, more than double the 400 cfu/100 ml limit set by European law. Additionally, the E.coli concentration was nearly four times higher than the permitted levels.
If pollution levels remain high, Paris organisers will likely need to resort to a Plan B to avoid health risks to athletes, stated Marc Habash, an associate professor at the University of Guelph’s school of environmental sciences.
“If there are high levels of E.coli and enterococci suggesting the water is unsafe, the water is considered of poor quality, for the most part, they will have to make a decision on whether they’ll hold the swimming event or not,” he told Global News in an interview.
“If the water quality is deemed not safe, they won’t allow the swimmers to swim.”
Do they have a Plan B?
The summer games are ready to start on July 26, where the opening ceremony will have around 10,000 athletes cruising on boats through the River Seine.
Marathon swimming events from August 8 to 9 and the triathlon on July 30, July 31 and August 5 are also scheduled to take place in the Seine.
On Friday, organisers informed Reuters that they are considering alternative options, such as selecting a different venue for marathon swimming and potentially removing the swimming segment from the triathlon altogether.
“The rules of World Triathlon allow, as a final resort, for the competition to be held in a duathlon format,” a Paris 2024 spokesperson told Reuters in French.
“On the other hand, in order to guarantee that marathon swimming events could still be held if all other contingency plans were exhausted, we have initiated a fallback plan based on the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium,” the spokesperson said.
“The competition site, already used for rowing and canoeing events, has all the necessary features to host these events if required.”
Habash mentioned that it is standard practice for sporting organisations to test water quality before a competition to ensure it is safe for swimming.
The Canadian Olympic Committee informed that its medical team is in regular communication with World Aquatics and Paris 2024 organisers, emphasising that the health and safety of Team Canada is the top priority.
“We are confident that the events can be safely held in the Seine,” the COC said in an emailed statement.
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