2023-08-04 01:14:45
They were to dive into the Seine this Friday morning. Elite swimmers will eventually have to do without this training. A location which was intended to allow them to prepare for the open water swimming events organized in Paris this weekend, as part of the World Cup in this discipline. A competition which must also serve as a “life-size” test before the 2024 Olympic Games.
This Thursday, at the end of the afternoon, the organizers – the International Swimming Federation as well as the French Swimming Federation – decided to cancel this training which was to start at 7:30 a.m. between the Pont Alexandre-III and the Pont de l ‘Alma.
In question, the poor bacteriological quality of the water generated by the bad weather of recent days. “Following recent heavy rains in Paris, the water quality of the Seine is currently below acceptable standards for safeguarding the health of swimmers,” said the French Swimming Federation in a press release.
On the other hand, the holding of this weekend’s events remains on hold “pending new water quality tests”. “An update on the competition schedule is expected at 5 p.m. this Friday,” the French Federation also said in the same press release.
10 km of swimming in the Seine
Organized as part of the Swimming World Cup, these events are therefore also particularly scrutinized by the organizers of the Paris 2024 Olympics. They are indeed a test for the Olympic events which will take place in the Parisian river next summer. . Their format is identical.
Swimmers must crawl for 10 km, completing several 1.6 km loops between the two bridges. If the competitions are maintained, 51 female athletes will try this course this Saturday. And they will be 56 men to confront it this Sunday.
Real general rehearsals for the organizers of Paris 2024. “This should allow us to see if the aquatic operations that we are going to organize on the Seine work with, for example, the installation of the starting pontoon, the arrival arch… develops Brigitte Légaré, one of the members of the Paris 2024 organization. This also allows us to test aspects related to water quality for next year. »
Between August 16 and 20, other “test events” are planned in the Seine, this time with triathlon (swimming, cycling and running) and para-triathlon events, also organized as part of of World Cups.
Is the situation worrying, one year from the Games? The various actors say they remain “confident”. A 1.4 billion euro bathing plan – half funded by the state – was notably launched in 2016 to improve the quality of the water in the Seine. “And this plan is bearing fruit, insists the prefect Pierre-Antoine Molina, secretary general for public policies in Île-de-France. We made 42 measurements between June 6 and July 19. And we have seen an improvement in water quality. »
“That hadn’t happened for twenty years! »
But “the exceptional episode” of recent days has, according to him, undermined these results. “Between July 20 and August 2, 104 mm of water fell on Paris, he notes. This had not happened for at least twenty years and it is four times more than the average of the last twenty years. »
However, rain affects the bacteriological quality of water. “It is added to the wastewater in the network, explains Pierre-Antoine Molina. And when it rains a lot, they exceed the network, so that we are obliged to dump part of it into the Seine. »
By spring 2024, several water storage basins – including one near the Gare d’Austerlitz – must be delivered to limit this phenomenon. “This equipment will allow us to greatly improve the quality of the water in rainy weather, assures Christophe Ribet, adviser to Pierre Rabadan, the deputy mayor of Paris in charge of sport and the Olympics. So we remain very confident for the 2024 Games.”
In the event of water pollution the day before next year’s events, the organizing committee has already provided for the possibility of postponing the competitions by a few days. A postponement which will not be possible if those of this weekend are canceled.
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