Follow the drama caused by the poor state of the Seine’s waters a year after the Games

The third swimming test on the Seine River as it passes through Paris had to be canceled this Sunday due to poor water qualitywithin the trials planned for the competitions scheduled at the Olympic Games in the French capital in the summer of 2024.

Organizers of the triathlon “Test Event” taking place starting Thursday in Paris announced early morning. the cancellation of the mixed relay swimming test scheduled for today.

This means that, once again, the triathlon is reduced to a duathlon (cycling and running) and the swimming route planned from the bridge of Alexander III in the direction of the bridge of Alma is suppressed.

The reason stated in a statement is “the persistence of variations in water quality test results“.

In practice, as happened last Saturday when the swimming test in the para-triathlon competition was also canceledtests in the last hours revealed a high concentration of E.coli bacteria, higher than the level allowed by sports regulations.

On August 6, a free swimming trial in the Seine also had to be cancelled.which counts for the World Cup, and again because of the quality of the river water.

In that case, that poor quality was attributed to the continuous rain that fell last week.and that caused the sewers to overflow at some points, leading to a portion of the sewage going into the river without going through the treatment plant.

With a view to the Olympic Games, but above all with the aim that the Seine as it passes through Paris can be a place suitable for bathing from 2025, A whole series of works has been carried out since 2016, with an investment of 1,600 million euros.

This includes, among other things, the modernization of two wastewater treatment plants in the French capital.but also the construction of large tanks to store water in case of heavy rains which prevents the sewers from emptying directly into the river in such cases.