The triathletes, who are preparing to dive into the Parisian river, are used to swimming in polluted waters. Despite the precautions and reinforced controls, the risks of illness exist.
“Anyone else have a question that isn’t about water quality?” Just a few weeks ago, in the midst of preparations for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, French triathlete Dorian Coninx did not hide his annoyance when asked about the state of the Seine. This swimming event, held in the water of the Parisian river, has sparked many controversies and questions. Is it healthy enough to swim in? Officially yes, even if the criteria for validating the quality of the water are largely debatable, according to the experts consulted by franceinfo. Proof that everything is not yet perfect, a month before the men set off for the triathlon, on Tuesday July 30, the river was still considered too polluted to host events.
To be or not to be clean? This is the question that triple effort enthusiasts might ask themselves. But if you listen to them, not really. Because swimming in potentially waste water is part of their competition routine, as was the case during the “test event” held on August 17, 2023 in Paris. ““There is no more concern for the Paris events than for other competitions, it is a bit our common lot”confirms the National Technical Director of the French Triathlon Federation (FFT), Benjamin Maze.
“International triathlon events have developed or are held in places that could be described as astonishing”euphemises Claude Marblé, sports doctor, working within the FFT for thirty years and former doctor of the French teams accompanying the elite triathletes on three Olympics (Beijing, London and Rio). Thus, the port of Yokohama, in Japan, the port of Hamburg, third European port in terms of maritime freight, the artificial lake Serpentine in London where the waters of the bay of Rio, where the competitions were held, are “rather risky sites”according to him.
As a man accustomed to troubled waters, he was recruited as sports doctor manager by Paris 2024, to be responsible for coordinating care and rescue on the Pont Alexandre III. “This problem of water quality is characteristic of very urban areas”confirms French triathlete Léo Bergère. However, not all competitions on the world circuit raise concerns and training in the pool avoids taking daily risks.
Despite the psychosis surrounding it, the Parisian “test event” organized last summer did not cause any major inconvenience. “We were able to swim without any problems, no one got sick, so honestly, it’s not something that worries me.”reassures French triathlete Emma Lombardi. “For me, it’s a non-issue”even evacuates Dorian Coninx. However, theThere are examples of races that have caused health problems. In early June, around thirty people suffered stomach problems and nausea after competing in the Dijon triathlon and swimming in Lake Kir, reports France 3 Bourgogne-Franche-Comté.
Last year, a few days before the trial run in the Seine, nearly 60 athletes suffered from diarrhoea and vomiting after swimming during the stage of the Triathlon World Championships in Sunderland (United Kingdom). “I’ve been feeling pretty bad since the race, but I guess that’s what happens when you’re swimming in shit.”thundered Australian triathlete Jake Birtwhistle on Instagram, in a message accompanying the water analyses.
Among athletes, water quality has not always been a concern. “Until the middle of my career, I had no idea that water could be so dangerous”says Frédéric Belaubre. The former triple European champion of the discipline, at the beginning of the 2000s, remembers an event in France held in a “brown water“, just after an intense rainy episode.
“Some participants had simple gastroenteritis, but for a small number it was much more serious, so much so that they were unable to finish the season or resume training.”
Frédéric Belaubre, triathleteto franceinfo
Yann Guyot, a specialist in the “half Ironman”, a triathlon distance longer than the Olympic format, says he has already “swam next to dead fish on the surface, which is not necessarily a sign of good quality” some water. Despite the far from optimal conditions, not all swimmers come out sick from their swim. “It also depends on each person’s immune system. We don’t necessarily all have the same ones, nor the same reactions.”says Emma Lombardi. “Top athletes have rather weak immune defenses, explains Claude Marblé, “An athlete’s immune status follows an upward curve, but at a certain level of practice, about 20 to 25 hours of training per week, it declines.” And organisms are exposed to diseases against which they must necessarily protect themselves.
To boost their immune defenses, athletes can take probiotics, according to the medical advisor. On the eve of a race, some opt for antibiotics, a practice not recommended by Claude Marblé. But the most common practice is to ingest, before jumping into the water, “a chlorine tablet diluted in a glasssays the doctor. It’s not very good, but it can help, because chlorine is a water disinfectant.” In full effort, blood goes to the muscles, which require a lot of oxygen, and spares the brain, liver, kidneys, heart and digestive tract.
“The glass of chlorinated water will remain in the stomach for a certain time. If the athlete swallows water during the race, it can be disinfected in the stomach with the chlorine.”
Claude Marblé, sports doctorto franceinfo
French triathlete Pierre Le Corre, for his part, swallows “sometimes Smecta [un antidiarrhéique] “before the races”he tells the Worldto reduce the risks. Since the triathlon swim is done in a mass start, in direct confrontation and without the lanes used in the pool, it “seems a bit inevitable to swallow water”the doctor breathes. But despite these precautions, which are only recommendations and not obligations, gastroenteritis can occur. “There are also more insidious risks, such as parasites, present on ducks, which can cause skin irritations. Or linked to red and green algae which can cause respiratory risks.”lists Claude Marblé.
The sports doctor also points out “a rarer risk”linked to the presence of rats, which carry the leptospirosis bacteria. If this is present in the water and an athlete has skin lesions or swallows water, he or she can contract leptospirosis. It can cause flu-like symptoms and liver poisoning, “which can take a serious and even fatal form sometimes”observes the doctor. “We know there are rats in Paris, but we don’t know if they have been hunted.”he says. He specifies that the risk of contracting this disease, which affects around 600 people per year in France according to the Pasteur Institute, “is very, very weak, but not zero” and that a vaccine exists against the most serious form.
Faced with the increase in cases of illness after the events, international authorities have taken up the problem for about ten years. This approach has accompanied the arrival of European standards on the quality of bathing water, which is measured according to four levels. Two germs are analyzed, E.coli and enterococcus. Depending on their level of proliferation, the water is deemed polluted or not. “If the waters are not categorized as being of very good quality, the swim must be cancelled”underlines the regulations of the International Triathlon Federation.
These measuring tools are the guarantors of the health of athletes. “We know that some places have more delicate conditions, but the procedures and medical protocols exist to reduce the risks.”assures the National Technical Director of the French Triathlon Federation, Benjamin Maze: Controls and rigor are welcome, because athletes sometimes have a hard time detecting risks. “When you swim in ports, there is no smell, the water is good, the color too, it makes you want to swim. There is no visible indicator that can make you think that you cannot swim”says Frédéric Belaubre.
In any case, the decision to hold the event remains in the hands of the organizers. The triathletes, for their part, do not really have a say. “Their job is to arrive ready to face any obstacle”sums up the former European champion. Not to analyze the quality of the water or to judge that of a course. This is perhaps why “We don’t ask ourselves the question of danger, concludes Dorian Coninx“We are more afraid of the risk of falling off a bike than of the possible consequences of swimming in water that is not very clean.” Having suffered a double fracture to his elbow and wrist while cycling during a competition a little over two months ago, the French world champion knows something about this.