Heavy rains force officials to cancel plans to test river Seine's readiness for 2024 Olympics
In an unfortunate bit of news for the 2024 Olympics, officials in Paris were forced to cancel a swim training session that was supposed to be held in the river Seine on Friday, August 4.
The decision came after the International Swimming Federation and the French Swimming Federation regarded the pollution level to be dangerously high in the waters of the Seine.
The high level of pollution is a result of the city's overextended wastewater networks, which were under stress due to 104ml of rain in Paris between July 20 and August 4, a first for the city in nearly 20 years.
Speaking during a press conference on Thursday, the French Swimming Federation noted
"Following recent heavy rainfall in Paris, the quality of the water in the Seine is currently below acceptable standards for the protection of swimmers' health".
The swim session was supposed to be a practice session for elite swimmers, who would have been participating in open-water swim competitions over the course of this weekend.
The competition, which was part of the swimming World Cup, would have been the perfect opportunity for officials to judge the river's conditions for the 2024 Olympics.
Both the World Cup and the 2024 Olympics are supposed to follow a similar format, with swimmers completing a 10k in the River Seine, looping back and forth between the Pont Alexandre-III and the Pont de l’Alma.
River Seine prepares for 2024 Olympics
The river Seine of Paris has been barred from swimming for nearly a century due to sanitary concerns, alongside boat traffic.
However, given the imminent 2024 games, the city has spent over 1.4 billion euros on clean-up efforts focused on decontaminating the water.
This has included the construction of a rainwater storage tank near the Austerlitz train station in Paris to help avoid wastewater from seeping into the Seine after storms and heavy rains. The city also plans to add more water storage basins by the spring of 2024.
Despite the recent setback, authorities remain very confident about the 2024 Olympics.