Despite E. Coli Concerns, Women’s Triathlon Completed with Swim in the Seine River

2024 PARIS SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES

Despite concerns about water quality in the Seine River leading to various practice cancellations and the postponement of the men’s race, the women’s triathlon went off without a hitch early Wednesday morning.

Athletes started racing at 8 AM in Paris (2 AM EST), with the 1500m swim marking the first leg of the event.

The women’s triathletes were the first athletes to swim in the Seine at the #ParisOlympics. 🏊‍♀️👀 pic.twitter.com/0630dGeOU9

— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) July 31, 2024

When all was said and done, Frenchwoman Cassandre Beaugrand crossed the finish line first in front of a home crowd in a time of 1:54:55, becoming the first French person to ever medal in the event. Switzerland’s Julie Derron and Great Britain’s Beth Potter rounded-out the podium.

The swim in the Seine comes as a historic moment for the nation of France. Deemed “unswimmable” for years, the Seine has long been a topic of debate amongst the French public. When the government, in combination with Paris 2024 Organizers, announced a $1.5 billion clean-up effort, many were skeptical about the ability to make the Seine safe to swim in. Despite the clean-up, tests taken just a month from the Olympics showed E. coli levels at 10 times the acceptable limit for swimming. However, reduced rainfall levels throughout the month of July contributed to a sharp decline in bacteria levels, leading Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo to take a plunge into the river before the start of the Games.

With conditions in the river improving, organizers were optimistic that the triathlon and open water events would be able to occur without issue, but recent downpours increased bacteria levels once-again. As a result, several triathlon training sessions were canceled early in the week, along with the men’s race being postponed.  Despite the hiccups, it appears as through bacteria levels have returned back under safe-swimming levels.

Aurelie Merle, the Paris 2024 Director of Sports, said Tuesday that testing results showed “we’re very close to the threshold of triathlon,” noting that one of four test sites along the triathlon course was below the threshold for E. coli. Two other sites were just above the limit, and one was more elevated, she said, citing a range of 980 to 1,553.

World Aquatics requirements for inland waterways:

  • Enterococci score: <200 is Excellent; <400 is Good; >400 is Unacceptable
  • E. Coli score: <500 is Excellent; <1,000 is Good; >1,000 is Unacceptable

World Triathlon requirements for inland waterways:

  • Enterococci score: <200 is Excellent; <400 is Good; <330 is Sufficient
  • E. Coli score: <500 is Excellent; <1,000 is Good; <900 is Sufficient

The men’s triathalon will also occur today, with athletes slated for a 10:45 AM start in Paris. Assuming conditions remain stable, open water swimming will take over the Seine on August 8 and 9.

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Jess
3 months ago

How many days until e coli is ravaging the athlete village?

Yabo
3 months ago

Can someone explain the sufficient description? Like why is it less than the “good” category?

Seth
3 months ago

I hope the competitors didn’t swallow any water, showered after, and washed their hands thoroughly.

If so then maybe there won’t be a massive sickness outbreak.

Thomas The Tank Engine
Reply to  Seth
3 months ago

And get prophylaxis

Boknows34
3 months ago

Great finish for Alex Yee. Timed it perfectly.

David S
3 months ago

Ewwwwwwwww🤢☣️
Open swimmers and triathletes swallow on average about half a litre of water

Aquatiger
3 months ago

It looks like they took the level criteria as a suggestion rather than a rule. Another article said E. Coli levels were good in one spot yesterday but just over in 2 spots and 1500 in a 4th spot. And that was yesterday. I didn’t realize these weren’t hard and fast rules.

From the ESPN article “But experts stressed that these numbers are simply guidelines used to assess risk.”

Last edited 3 months ago by Aquatiger
Nicole Miller
Reply to  Aquatiger
3 months ago

So, it’s interesting, as someone who works in environmental biology, I looked into this a few weeks ago. They’re using upstream monitoring to detect the bacteria levels and project when those bacteria levels will be reflected further downstream. It appears that they’re using devices that allow for real time tracking in those upstream locations. However, I don’t necessarily know how reliable those devices are nor what brand of device they are using. At the quickest turn-around time, we won’t know the actual bacteria levels from laboratory testing for at least 24 hours as there’s a 23-72 hour incubation window.

In the US, many environmental agencies will close beaches if the bacteria counts even approach 200 colony-forming units (CFUs) per… Read more »

SwimKen
3 months ago

I don’t believe for a moment that levels were normal.

PFA
Reply to  SwimKen
3 months ago

Over under on swimmers getting E-coli?

The unoriginal Tim
Reply to  PFA
3 months ago

They are in great health so unlikely.

Joel
Reply to  The unoriginal Tim
3 months ago

Sometimes athletes seem to catch bugs easier than the average relatively healthy person.

CasualSwimmer
Reply to  Joel
3 months ago

Good training means controlled fatigue, but this fatigue can also increases your odds of catching something

Sapiens Ursus
Reply to  Joel
3 months ago

A quick googlefu confirmed my suspicion that the occurence of autoimmune disorders in athletes is pretty common actually, which for those who don’t know that’s a condition where the problem isn’t the bug, it’s that in response to the big the immune ayatem goes haywire and starts attacking the body itself. I’m pretty sure drinking a lot of e. coli is not a good pairing with that

maheny
Reply to  The unoriginal Tim
3 months ago

athletes get sick easier than “normal” healthy young people due to constant training stress and fatigue

About Nicole Miller

Nicole Miller

Nicole has been with SwimSwam since April 2020, as both a reporter and social media contributor. Prior to joining the SwimSwam platform, Nicole also managed a successful Instagram platform, amassing over 20,000 followers. Currently, Nicole is pursuing her B.S. in Biomedical Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. After competing for the swim …

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