By Allison Warren, Staff Writer
The Paris 2024 Olympic Games has faced its fair share of controversies, ranging from its opening ceremony, inclusion of transgender athletes, and the polluted Seine River. The Seine, a 777 kilometer and ~483 mile long river, extends throughout northern France, including beautiful views of the Eiffel Tower.
In preparation for the 2024 Olympics, France invested 1.5 billion dollars into cleaning the Seine River by upgrading the sewage system, wastewater treatment plants, and building a giant underground water storage basin. Prior to the Olympics, the Seine had been banned for over a century, prohibiting Parisians from participating in activities such as sunbathing and swimming in the river, all due to concerns of river traffic and pollution.
The Seine grew polluted over centuries as it was utilized as a site for used laundry water, human wastes, and animal remains. Although the 19th century introduced a new sewer system for Paris, it ultimately proved detrimental to the health of the river. Hope for the water quality grew in 1991 when the European Union sought to address the role urban wastewater played in water pollution. Modern cities were built with separate pipes for sewage and storm water, while old cities like Paris had single pipes for both. Therefore, under heavy rain, untreated wastewater and runoff may spill into the Seine, including both human and animal waste, with the sun’s ultraviolet rays killing the bacteria on the surface.
By 2015, Paris launched their swimming plan with the hopes that by 2024 the Seine would be safe to swim in.
The Olympic games included five events that took place in the Seine: men and women’s triathlon which occurred on July 31, the mixed relay which occurred on August 5, and the women’s marathon competition which occurred on August 8 and the men’s race on August 9. The competitions must take place in a river, as navigating the currents is part of the sport. Martin Doyle, a professor of river science at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment, shares that “generally, you want to avoid swimming in urban rivers” and that the Olympians are doing something “not advisable to the general public.”
Swimming in the Seine poses the health concern of exposure to harmful bacteria like E. coli and enterococci, which are indicative of raw sewage and fecal contamination. Brian Rahm, a biological and environmental engineering expert at Cornell University, explains that sometimes it is not the E. coli that causes the worry; rather the presence of E. coli suggests other pathogens, bacteria, and viruses may all be in the water. Although most strains of E. coli are harmless and may even be a part of the human microbiome, other strains are dangerous and severe cases of exposure can be fatal. When contamination levels are high, there are risks of gastrointestinal illness such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain even from just a mouthful of contaminated water. There are additional risks of eye infections like conjunctivitis, dehydration, bloody stools, fever, and wound/cut infections. Wounds and cuts pose a more serious concern as they may cause leptospirosis, a disease spread through bacteria in animal urine causing fever and chills. The incubation period is typically three to four days yet can be as short as one day or take up to ten days.
The reality is, as Dr. Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and a spokesperson for the Infectious Diseases Society of America, explains, all fresh water will have some fecal contamination. Rather, it is the dosing that will determine if the conditions are safe. Adalja elaborates that expecting the Seine to have no bacteria would be “biologically a fantasy.” Although microorganisms are certain to come in contact with one’s body, in the vast majority of situations there will not be any concern, as the issue is more related to the quantity of bacteria in the water rather than which bacteria is in the water Adalja shared.
Sandrine Armirail, director of Maison de la Pêche et de la Nature, an environmental education center, explains that water quality is defined by what’s living in it, saying, “the more species you have, the healthier the environment.” Currently, the Seine is healthy for aquatic life with 36 different fish species living there, whereas in the ‘70s it was biologically dead.
Rham from Cornell eases the concerns for Olympians growing ill after their swims, sharing that “the healthier you are, the more likely you’re going to be to withstand any sort of pathogen.” Since Olympians are healthy and strong they are more likely only to experience minor illnesses from their swims. Yet, even a minor illness can halt an Olympian from achieving their goals and dreams. Experts recommend that athletes wash themselves clean after their swim to prevent any illness through cuts and to stay alert for any gastrointestinal symptoms. The Australian team even took medication a month before the Olympics in order to combat any effects from the E. coli.
Tests at the end of June revealed that the river still contained levels of bacteria that were deemed unsafe swim conditions. To alleviate concerns regarding the river’s safety, the mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo swam in the river on July 17 ahead of any competitions. Olympic organizers remained hopeful that the 2024 games would usher in a new era for Paris, one in which those may freely swim in the Seine. Yet with several downpours during the Games, this goal has proved challenging. Organizers have been forced to cancel multiple swim tests which were designed to enable the triathletes to familiarize themselves with the course due to concerns regarding water quality after the rain. After it rains, experts advise waiting at least 48 hours prior to swimming in a lake or river. Therefore, the men’s triathlon was postponed by a day.
Olympic organizers test daily water samples to assess the risk of the polluted Seine. On July 31 the Olympic triathlon event took place, with swimmers diving into the Seine river after test results from 3:20 AM that morning deemed the water quality safe. Yet even with testing, Metin Duran, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Villanova University, explains that it remains difficult to quantify the exact risk using that data.
The organizers test samples taken from the river and allow them 21.5 hours to grow cultures in a lab. These quality tests measure the level of fecal bacteria, such as E. coli in the river. According to the World Triathlon’s guidelines, E. coli levels of up to 1,000 colony-forming units per 100 milliliters is considered “good” and may allow for competitions to go forward. However, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has a limit of 126 units per 100 milliliters of water, arguing that higher levels would be unsuitable for recreational activities. A sample taken at 6:00 AM the morning of the triathlon race, from where the swim began and ended, revealed on Thursday that the river had 249 units of bacteria.
Fluidion, a Paris and Los Angeles-based water monitoring tech company, has been testing the water several times a day, and their CEO and founder Dan Angelescu believes that the tests the Olympic organizers have been conducting have “shortcomings” and “undercount severely the bacteria.” Angelescu explains that his company’s comprehensive tests include both “free floating” bacteria in the water and bacteria that is attached to fecal or sediment particles, with his tests providing a more accurate picture of the river’s safety than the city’s testing. When approaching city officials about their testing methods, they explained to Angelescu that their tests are in line with regulations, yet Angelescu would argue that the current regulations are wrong. Rahm believes that from the public health perspective, whether the bacteria is free flowing or trapped inside a dirt particle, it will get inside one’s body one way or another.
Whereas some athletes, like French Cassandre Beaugrand, explained “we’ve swum in worse water” and did not mind her swim in the Seine, others seemed more concerned. South African Jamie Riddle shared with reporters that he will definitely “be visiting the bathroom later” after swallowing “gallons and gallons of water” at the race. Morgan Pearson from team USA felt as though France could have invested more into cleaning their water, and that the organizers “were just hoping for the best and know the athletes are gonna do it because it’s the Olympics.” American Seth Rider joked that he was preparing for his swim in the Seine by strengthening his “E. coli threshold by exposing [himself] to a bit of E. coli in [his] day-to-day life,” by no longer washing his hands after using the restroom. Stephen Meyers, a spokesperson for USA Triathlon, shared as the team celebrated their silver medal from the mixed relay race, that this is the Olympics and team USA will “swim no matter what.”
Swiss officials shared that their triathlete Adrien Briffod developed a stomach infection after his race in the Seine, yet it is “impossible to say” whether the incident is related to his swim in the river as no other athletes have yet to report gastrointestinal issues. Simon Westermann, Briffod’s replacement for the mixed relay also withdrew due to a gastrointestinal infection, yet he had not participated in any swims in the Seine. The Swiss team still competed in the mixed relay.
The Belgium Olympic committee announced that it would withdraw its team from the mixed relay triathlon after their competitor Claire Michel fell ill after her swim in the women’s triathlon. Although the Paris 2024 organizers made no immediate statement regarding Michel’s illness, they did release a statement stating that the mixed relay triathlon would proceed on August 5, with the swim portion at the Seine. On August 5 at a news conference Pierre Rabadan, the Paris deputy mayor in charge of the Olympics, shared that the Seine should not be blamed for any illness and that there is currently no link between the Seine and any illness.
The Norwegian triathlete Vetle Bergsvik Thorn, who competed in the men’s triathlon, grew sick the day after he competed. Thorn described having an upset stomach and vomiting yet believed food poisoning to be the culprit. As the day went on, he claimed to have felt better and still competed in the mixed relay. The Norwegian Triathlon Federation sports director Arild Tveiten explained the cause of Thorn’s illness may have been the river, as that is “what everyone is thinking,” yet it also “could be the chicken” causing food poisoning, which is what the doctor believes, and what the symptoms suggest.
Yet even after athletes have grown sick, Paris 2024 organizers defended the use of the Seine, arguing the water quality was “very good” ahead of the triathlon races. The mayor of Paris even complained “enough with fake news,” and hoped that those in Paris could come together and enjoy their new decontaminated river that “will change [their] lives.”