Olympics in Paris

Seine causes concern: training canceled again

Open water swimming training in the Seine has been canceled.(Bild: Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

The first familiarization training session for the Olympic open water swimmers in the Seine has been cancelled due to concerns about water pollution. This was announced by the World Aquatics Swimming Federation on Tuesday. 

The water quality in the great Parisian river is causing major problems for the organizers. Felix Auböck and Jan Hercog will be competing for Austria in the 10 km on Friday (7.30 am). 

(Bild: AFP/APA/Thibaud MORITZ)

"Following the daily briefing this morning between the City of Paris, Paris 2024 and World Aquatics, it has been decided that the familiarization swim scheduled for today, 6 August 2024, will be cancelled," said the statement from the world federation. The organizers of Paris 2024 spoke of a "cautious" decision by World Aquatics. Another training session is planned for Wednesday.

Will the rowers' competition venue be used?
If the conditions in the Seine are not suitable before the races, the rowing competition venue could be used. There have already been problems with the water quality for the triathletes, who also took part in the swimming discipline in the Seine. The men's individual competition was postponed by one day because the values were outside the limits accepted by the world federation. Triathletes' swimming training sessions also had to be canceled as a result.

For a long time, there had been discussions in Paris about whether the quality of the water in the Seine was really good enough for competitions to be held there. In recent years, 1.4 billion euros have been invested in wastewater treatment plants and the sewage system in the greater Paris area in order to improve the water quality. Among other things, this now prevents toilet wastewater from entering the river during heavy rainfall.