The symbolic bath of the mayor, Anne Hidalgo, has been delayed from June 23 to July 15
The level of pollution of the Seine River exceeds the limits planned for the holding of the competitions triathlon and open water swimming, according to the analyzes published this Friday, 35 days before the start of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
“To date, the samples taken in the Seine do not correspond to the standards,” regional prefect Marc Guillaume commented during a press conference, although he expressed confidence that the planned tests could finally be held in its waters.
According to the weekly report published by the Paris mayor’s office and the regional prefecture, the bad weather conditions of recent days in France explain the rise in concentrations of two fecal bacteria in the river.
“The quality of the water continues to deteriorate as a consequence of the poor hydrological and meteorological conditions: rain, high flow, few hours of sun, temperatures below” normal, explain the local authorities.
These factors trigger the concentration of two fecal bacteria – enterococci and ‘Escherichia coli’ – above the maximum levels to authorize swimming competitions in the waters of the Seine.
Between June 10 and 16, the level of E-Coli almost every day exceeded 1,000 colony forming units (CFU) per 100 ml, the maximum threshold established by the international triathlon and swimming federations.
The Seine is one of the symbols of Paris-2024, which they also hope to leave as a legacy the possibility of bathing in its waters. But as the event approaches, uncertainty increases as to whether tests can be held in its waters.
The tests planned for August 2023 had to be largely canceled due to the poor quality of its waters and, recently, the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, postponed to July 15 its symbolic bath initially scheduled for June 23.
Despite the uncertainty, the organizers’ Plan B at the moment does not involve changing the location of the triathlon and open water swimming events in case of heavy rains, but rather postponing them for a few days.
