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Tyler Mislawchuk got sick after being forced to swim in the Seine River at the Paris Olympics. The triathlete hinted as to why after the fact.
Mislawchuk competed in the men’s field Wednesday, with swim being the first of three legs in his competition. Host country France pushed to have the event start in the Seine, a waterway that’s been off-limits to swimmers for over a century.
The river is a landing spot for sewage runoff during severe storms due to Paris’s aging infrastructure. Unable to handle heavy rains in an uncharacteristically wet summer, bacteria levels are at a high.
The water was deemed unsafe for swimmers at the start of the Olympics, though the nation wouldn’t budge on its position surrounding the triathlon setting.
As a result, a $1.5 billion clean-up effort was put in place, which eventually helped water quality reach the preferred testing levels. While Tuesday’s men’s event had to be postponed, the women dove in early Wednesday.
The men’s triathlon followed, where Tyler Mislawchuk placed 9th.
Though he crossed the finish line, he was seen violently vomiting soon thereafter. That immediately led to further questions about those Seine River water conditions.
Was the water to blame?!
Mislawchuk seemed to say, “No,” in a post-race interview. Instead, he hinted at it being the heat.
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“I would’ve liked to get it done, but it just wasn’t in the cards,” Mislawchuk said. “I’m from Oak Bluff, Manitoba. It’s -55 degrees in the winter… You climb through snowbanks to get to school. Now, I’m here at the Summer Olympics. The biggest sporting stage in the world.”
It’s interesting he noted the conditions in Paris, which is experiencing a bit of a heatwave this month. Typically seeing an average of 78 degrees in July, they’ve recorded temperatures in the 90s with the Games in town.
As for Tyler Mislawchuk, he’s used to seeing sub-zero conditions in Canada. Quite the changeup!
It appears the heat played the biggest factor in his sickness. Exhaustion can have that effect.
While the Seine River wasn’t at fault in this case, many will still be critical of the Olympic committee’s decision to force swimmers into the waterway this summer.