The rains in May deteriorated the water quality of the Seine and the flow is too high. Impossible to swim in the Paris river, a few weeks before the Olympic Games. The French open water swimming team cannot train.
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The French open water swimming team will not be able to train next Monday, June 10, in the Seine because of the poor quality of the water, the Sports department of Radio France learned this Thursday. The now daily checks since June 1 at eight points upstream of the Olympic site show a deterioration in the water quality of the Seine. The cause: the abundant rains in May. In addition, the flow rate is considered too high to allow training.
The French Swimming Federation had been negotiating for months to obtain authorization to swim in the Seine. The date of June 10 had been set for several weeks. The French open water swimming team wanted to train to get used to the particular conditions of the river, particularly its currents. Already last August, the open water swimming test event in Paris was canceled at the last minute due to water quality below acceptable standards.
Those responsible for the French team are now looking for a new date but without guarantee if no improvement is noted. In the meantime, the Blues will be able to train during the French championships in mid-July in Compiègne in the Oise river to try to recreate the current conditions specific to a river.
The question now is whether the health readings will be good enough for athletes to swim in the Seine for the open water and triathlon events during the Paris Olympics. As a reminder, the mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo plans to swim in the Seine on June 23, again if the tests are good.
