Olympic Event In Seine River Cancelled Due To Poor Water-Quality, Days After Mayor Swam To Prove Its Cleanliness

It was just days ago we wrote that Paris’ mayor was going swimming in the Seine to dispel rumors that the water was too dirty for athletes to use.

How quickly the (sh*t filled) tide has turned. 

Questions about the Seine River’s water quality have persisted into the 2024 Olympics, leading to the cancellation of a pre-race triathlon event on Sunday, according to the New York Post.

Organizers scrapped the swimming leg after a meeting with World Triathlon and local authorities about water quality tests.

We noted weeks ago that swimming in the Seine has been banned for over a century and since 2015, organizers have invested $1.5 billion to prepare the river for the Olympics and ensure a cleaner Seine for Parisians post-Games.

This plan included building a massive underground water storage basin in central Paris, renovating sewer infrastructure, and upgrading wastewater treatment plants.

Originally planned for June, Hidalgo’s swim was delayed due to snap parliamentary elections. During that time, the hashtag “jechiedanslaSeine” (“I’m pooping in the Seine”) trended on social media as a protest against the Olympics.

Previous attempts to clean the Seine, including a pledge by former French president Jacques Chirac in 1988, were unsuccessful. Hidalgo followed French Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, who swam in the Seine on Saturday wearing a full-body suit.

Concerns about the Seine’s flow and pollution levels continue, leading to daily water quality tests by Eau de Paris. Early June tests showed unsafe E. coli levels, but results in July seemed to have improved heading into the opening ceremony.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo took a swim in the Seine River earlier this month in an effort to prove the “long-polluted” river was now clean enough to host swimming during this year’s Olympic Games.

Earlier this year the water showed unsafe levels of E. coli bacteria, AP reported. 

During her swim she was joined by swimmers from local clubs, Paris 2024 chief Tony Estanguet and the top government official for the Paris region, Marc Guillaume, the report says. 

Hidalgo said during the swim: “The Seine is exquisite. The water is very, very good. A little cool, but not so bad.’’

She called the day “a dream” and a “testimony that we have achieved a lot of work”.

More like a testimony of the efficiency of government…