Olympic Swim training for Triathlon canceled for second consecutive day over poor water quality in Seine despite France spending $1.5 billion to clean up the river

The excessive rainfall throughout the weekend has resulted in a flow of sewage into the Seine River increasing its E.coli levels.

Olympic Swim training for Triathlon canceled for second consecutive day over poor water quality in Seine despite France spending $1.5 billion to clean up the river

River Seine (via Imago)

For athletes competing in the Triathlon at the Paris Olympic Games, there are concerns bigger than performing at the highest level. The water quality of the Seine River has compelled officials to postpone the swimming portion of the Olympic training session for the second consecutive day on Monday.

This comes despite the French government’s efforts to clean up the river before the commencement of the Olympic Games. They spent a whopping $1.5 billion as part of their clean-up efforts but the rainfall over the weekend resulted in millions of gallons of sewage being swept into the river. The sewage has resulted in the E-coli levels increasing to concerning levels and making the water not worthy of swimming in.

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The Organizing committee remains optimistic that the triathletes will be able to resume swimming in the Seine on Tuesday when the competition is scheduled to begin. The World Triathlon, the body overlooking the event has its medical team at the venue and after investigating the quality of the water and conversing with the city officials, they are certain that the sunny weather and higher temperatures will result in the E.coli levels and other bacteria falling below the necessary limits.

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Rains have persisted in Paris from the start of the Olympic Opening ceremony

The rains have resulted in the postponement of tennis matches and skateboarding events. The Seine River has been a point of concern since the announcement of some swimming events being conducted in it. For over a century, it has been deemed illegal to swim in the iconic water body, however, since it is the bloodline of Paris, the organizers believed that setting it as the venue would add an extra degree of aura to the event.

Siene River
The French Government has spent a lot financially into cleaning the Seine River up (via Reuters)

Despite the clean-up efforts of the French government, the pollution levels tend to increase after heavy rainfall. 

Given the weather forecast for the next 36 hours, Paris 2024, and World Triathlon are confident that water quality will return to below limits before the start of the triathlon competitions on July 30.
A joint statement from Paris 2024 and World Triathlon read

Paris is banking on the first heat wave of the summer season to be its savior right around the time the triathlon event will kick off.

However, there is a good chance of scattered thunderstorms in the noon on Tuesday and Wednesday (July 30 and 31). This could yet again play spoilsport to athletes swimming in the Seine. France’s meteorological department, Meteo-France expects high and low temperatures to be above average for the upcoming days. It began to issue orange heat warnings from Monday for 39 different locations. Just in case, the Olympic committee has a backup plan, 

We are confident we're going to be able to hold the competition tomorrow and Wednesday and we still have a contingency plan that is in place for Friday just in case.
Chief Executive Etienne Thobois told journalists via CNN

The triathlon races will commence with a 1.5 km swim, followed by a 40K bike race, and will conclude with a 10K run through the heart of the city.

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