I am in Paris | Can you swim in the Seine? This "soul-searching question" still has no answer
2024-08-11
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People swim in the Seine River on July 17, 2024, local time. Xinhua News Agency
Whether or not you can swim in the Seine is a key question that has been running through the Paris Olympics. From Paris's initial promise to clean up the Seine, to the dispute between the Paris municipal government and the media over water quality at the beginning of the year, to the suspense of whether the mayor of Paris will swim in the river this summer. Now, the mayor of Paris has swum in the Seine, and the Olympic triathlon individual finals were held in the Seine last Wednesday (July 31), but people are still unclear whether the Seine is suitable for swimming.
On July 17, 2024, local time, in Paris, France, the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, swam in the Seine River to prove to the outside world that the water quality of the Seine River is "clean enough" to ensure that the water events of the Paris Olympics can be held normally. Visual China Photo
On the morning of August 5, the triathlon team competition started. However, Belgium and Switzerland made temporary personnel adjustments before the competition, and Belgium had to withdraw from the competition. The reason was that some players had gastrointestinal discomfort. As soon as this news came out, public opinion exploded again - was it because of the water quality of the Seine River that caused the athletes to get sick?
Although the organizers and the Paris municipal government have repeatedly stressed that the water quality of the Seine River is fine and meets the standards, Parisians can still see garbage, foam and other pollutants in the Seine River every day. Coupled with these coincidental news, naturally everyone still has doubts about the water quality of the Seine River.
The Belgian way of saying “a little bit of truth” and the Swiss way of saying “no big deal”
Belgium, which was forced to withdraw from the competition, issued an ambiguous press release on Monday morning.
“The Belgian Olympic Committee and the Belgian Triathlon Team hope that future Olympic triathlon organisers can learn from this event. In particular, the training and competition calendars should be guaranteed and the competition format should be clearly communicated to teams and supporters to avoid uncertainty.”
This passage does not mention the water quality of the Seine River, but it is aimed at the water quality of the Seine River. Because Paris had unexpectedly heavy rain this summer, the water quality of the Seine River did not meet the standard until the opening of the Olympic Games. The Paris Olympic Committee temporarily canceled the triathlon team's warm-up and training in the Seine River in the early morning of July 28. Since then, the organizers have no definite information on whether the individual competition on July 30 can be held smoothly. There was even news that the triathlon would be changed to a duathlon and swimming would be cancelled.
It was not until July 30 that the organizers finally announced that the water quality of the Seine River met the standards and the competition could be held. Audiences around the world were able to watch the classic scene of athletes jumping into the Seine River on site or on TV.
However, delaying the decision until the last minute will definitely bring unnecessary psychological pressure and training burden to the athletes. And this swaying is entirely due to the water quality of the Seine River, and there is no other reason. It can be said that this Belgian press release is aimed at the Seine River.
In contrast, Switzerland, which was only forced to make substitutions but did not withdraw from the competition, although it only finished seventh in the team competition, was still much more moderate in its attitude towards the organizers.
Swiss officials quickly came out to refute the rumors after the substitution on Monday, saying that the two players on the Swiss team who were unable to compete due to gastrointestinal problems had never swum in the Seine, so it had nothing to do with the water quality of the Seine.
The last Swiss athlete to jump into the Seine was Sylvain Fridelance, the second substitute in the swimming leg, who was called in at short notice after the two previous swimmers had to withdraw due to gastrointestinal problems.
After finishing his game, as expected, Friedlands was found by French sports media RMC and asked about the water quality of the Seine River. His answer was hilarious - "To be honest, I think there is nothing wrong with the water. If we have to swim in the Seine River, there is nothing we can do. I always tell myself, 'They have tested the water quality, I have to trust them.' It is true that there are many controversies about the water quality, but for me the biggest challenge in the Seine River is the turbulent water flow rather than the water quality. Let's wait and see, I may vomit tomorrow, but it's no big deal."
Taylor Knibb, the British silver medalist, made a similar joke in an interview with RMC: "Water quality? We'll see. You should ask me this question again in 72 hours or a week."
The athletes have a good attitude, but the citizens and tourists are not blind.
The good attitude of these athletes may surprise many readers, as if swimming in dirty water is not a big deal. In fact, triathlon athletes are already accustomed to swimming in dirty water because they have to swim outdoors in natural water bodies.
Originally, the World Triathlon Union's standards for bacteria in seawater are much looser than those for indoor swimming pools. According to my country's national standards, the number of E. coli in indoor swimming pools should be less than or equal to 18 per liter, or 1.8 per 100 milliliters of water. Correspondingly, the triathlon requirement is that as long as the number of enterococci in 100 milliliters of seawater does not exceed 100 and the number of E. coli does not exceed 250, it meets the competition requirements.
From 1.8 to 250, it is clear how loose the standards are.
The standards for inland waters such as the Seine River are even lower than those for seawater - as long as the Enterococci content does not exceed 200 and the E. Coli content does not exceed 500 per 100 ml of water, it meets the requirements of the competition.
It is not uncommon for triathletes to suffer from diarrhea after swimming in dirty water. After the World Triathlon UK race in August 2023, 57 athletes felt unwell after swimming. The organizers said that their water quality met the standards, and in the end they did not figure out whether the physical problems were caused by water quality problems.
Turning our attention back to Paris, the problem is the same. The organizers have always insisted that there is no problem with the water quality of the Seine River. However, the water quality test results released by the Paris municipal government are seriously delayed. Now the official website only has water quality tests up to July 26, which is more than a week late. In the final analysis, it is still a problem caused by lack of transparency.
What's worse is that Parisians and tourists in Paris are not blind. Everyone can see the foam and garbage floating on the surface of the Seine River. I even saw a dead fish a few days ago. In this case, the organizers should publish the data in a timely manner instead of simply repeatedly guaranteeing that "the water quality meets the standards".
Athletes will swim 10 kilometers in the Seine
Regardless of the controversy, at least by August 5, the individual and team events of the triathlon had been completed. However, the challenge facing the Seine River is not over yet. Because there will be an open water swimming competition early in the morning on August 8, and the men's and women's competitors will have to swim a full 10 kilometers in the Seine River.
The good news is that the weather forecast for Paris for the next week shows that it is unlikely to rain and there will be more sunny days, which will be very helpful in improving the water quality of the Seine River.
The bad news is that the organizers probably won’t be able to release the water quality data in time, so the athletes can only “choose to believe it.” The controversy over the water quality of the Seine River is unlikely to subside anytime soon.
The Paper special correspondent Xu Xiaofei
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