Swimming ten kilometers in the water of the Seine: it will ‘just’ happen today. At 7:30 a.m. CEST, 24 women plunged into the already controversial waters of the French river for what must become the most important race of their lives.
The fact that open water swimming in the Seine is taking place is somewhat surprising and raises many questions and even anger, especially online. The water quality of the Seine has been so bad for a hundred years that it cannot be swum and last week the test swims of the Olympic triathlons were already cancelled, before the men’s race was postponed by a day. In the end, the races did go on because the water ‘suddenly’ met safety standards. The days after the race, however, the water quality had dropped again, so swimming was no longer possible. Biggest problem: the E. coli bacteria, better known among many people as ‘poop bacteria’.
After the Olympic triathlons, many triathletes fell ill. Among them also Claire Michel, who even ended up in the hospital of the Olympic village.
Today the women’s open water swimming race takes place. Tomorrow – Aug. 9 – the men’s race will take place.
