The Seine River has been a cause of concern for athletes and officials during this year’s Summer Olympics due to contamination worries.
World Aquatics announced on Wednesday that swimmers were testing the waters before the upcoming marathon swimming events. The marathon swimming events, which will cover a distance of 6.22 miles, are particularly worrisome as compared to the 0.93-mile swim in the men’s and women’s Olympic triathlons.
The women’s marathon swimming event is scheduled for Thursday, with the men’s event following on Friday.
These events will be the fourth and fifth to take place in the river, following the men’s and women’s triathlon events last week, and the mixed-gender triathlon relay on Monday.
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The men’s triathlon event was postponed briefly due to high levels of E. coli in the river but later continued after levels returned to normal. Marathon swimmers were also unable to test the waters on Tuesday but were given the go-ahead on Wednesday after bacteria levels were deemed safe.
Despite the completion of the triathlon events, concerns regarding river pollution persisted leading up to the mixed triathlon relay. Belgium withdrew its team after an athlete fell ill, later determined to be due to a virus rather than E. coli.
Efforts have been made to improve water quality in the Seine, allowing Olympic athletes to compete in water events despite the river being off-limits to the public for swimming due to contamination concerns.
