2023-08-23 10:58:54
This malfunction probably led to a degraded water quality, beyond the bacteriological thresholds required to swim in the river in complete safety.
The reason for the excessive pollution of the Seine to hold swimming events there on Saturday and Sunday seems to have been found. “At this stage the preferred hypothesis is that of the malfunction of a valve of the sewerage network located at the level of the Tolbiac bridge”, announced Tuesday August 22 the town hall of Paris, confirming information from the Canard Enchaîné to be published on Wednesday .
It is this malfunction that probably led to degraded water quality, beyond the bacteriological thresholds required for diving and swimming in the river in complete safety. The para-triathlon events on Saturday and the mixed relay on Sunday therefore had to be transformed into a duathlon.
“Investigations are continuing to understand the sequence of events and determine the measures to be taken in order to guarantee the perfect quality of the water for the holding of the events in 2024”, engaged the town hall of Paris.
“It’s regrettable but it’s a situation that we will be able to better understand in the future”, tries to reassure AFP the assistant to the Olympics and sport, Pierre Rabadan, who is still awaiting the details of this which exactly happened.
The dreaded rains
He had not hidden “the absence of explanation” in the face of the degraded results and the presence beyond the threshold of the bacterium Escherichia Coli (E. coli), fixed at 1,000 CFU / 100 ml, in the absence of rain and thunderstorms in the French capital. Because ten days earlier, it was indeed the storms and exceptional rainfall on the Île-de-France which had derailed another pre-Olympic test, that of swimming in open water.
This scenario of heavy rains was feared by all the players and, with a view to the Games, several projects are underway to try to counter this risk, such as the Austerlitz basin, still under construction, which will make it possible to store rainwater (50,000 m³), and will be operational in 2024.
First high-level event in the Seine ????
The many years of collective work to improve the quality of the water in the Seine are now being rewarded.
The triathlon test event and the 68 best triathletes in the world are launched!#RoadToParis2024 pic.twitter.com/INvAGINpKn
— Paris 2024 (@Paris2024) August 17, 2023
On the side of the Olympic Games organizing committee (Cojo), apart from perhaps providing a greater amplitude to stagger the events, there is no plan B planned for swimming elsewhere than in the Seine. A first life-size test was still able to take place for an international triathlon event.
These competitions in the Seine are preludes to future swimming promised for 2025 by the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo (PS), on three sites while swimming has been prohibited there since 1923.
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