Paris will officially open the 2024 Olympics on July 26, in less than one month. Opening ceremonies are set to take place in the heart of the city along its main artery, the Seine, which is also supposed to host open water swimming events.
If it is safe enough… and that is a big “if.”
The river, which is really just a drainage basin, is not anywhere close to ready. Fecal bacteria continues to cause serious issues for the historic venue. $1.5 billion restoration efforts have failed— for now.
Open water swim events in the Olympics include a portion of the triathlon, a mixed-team relay race, and the 10,000-meter. Participants will be asked to hop in the Seine, where swimming has been illegal for more than 100 years due to high pollution levels.
Old city pipes that connect to the city’s sewage system cannot keep up with high levels of rain.
As a result, literal sewage flows into the Seine during long periods of heavy precipitation. Sewage creates pollution. The pollution creates an unhealthy amount of bacteria in the water. That doesn’t include all of the other sediment-related bacteria that flows down the Seine from northern France or just normal trash.
Paris has had an especially rainy spring so the water is extremely dirty.
E. Coli bacteria is most prominently found in the Seine right now. While it not typically pathogenic by itself, E. Coli can indicate the presence of other dangerous pathogens. They could cause rashes, gastrointestinal issues and diseases or even death.
French President Emmanuel Macron and Paris Mayor Anne Hildalgo promised to swim in the Seine to prove that it is safe. They were supposed to do so last weekend but bailed for “political reasons,” which also led the Parisian Poop Protest to be postponed.
In reality, conditions just aren’t safe.
The latest water samples were extracted from the Seine between June 17 and June 23. Monitoring group Eau de Paris found that E. Coli levels were still 10 times (!!) above the acceptable limits.
Water quality remains degraded because of unfavourable hydrological conditions, little sunshine, below-average seasonal temperatures and upstream pollution.
— Parisian Mayor’s Office
Olympic organizers remain confident that everything can continue as planned. They claim that summer sun and heat will help to deteriorate bacteria levels. We shall see…