Olympics 2024: German swimming coach worries about the Seine

National swimming coach Bernd Berkhahn does not currently believe that Olympic open water races in the Seine are possible. “The backdrop is great. We all want to swim there, there’s no question about that. But the conditions are not right for it right now,” said Berkhahn. In his view, the current is a major problem. “The triathletes will have problems getting back. The swimmers might manage it, but it will take a long time.” During the competitions, the athletes sometimes swim with the current and sometimes against it.

“If it stays at one meter per second, we’ll have a fast outbound track and nobody wants to see it on the way back because it’s a stayer race,” said Berkhahn. “In my opinion, that makes no sense at all and it doesn’t do the sport justice. I think that’s a shame.”

Avoidance of rowing route possible

The open water races are planned for August 8th and 9th. If the conditions in the Seine are not suitable by then, the race could be held at the rowers’ competition venue.

The pollution of the river in the heart of Paris is also an issue. “It seems they now have it somewhat under control that the worst pollution is coming out of the Seine,” said Berkhahn. “But there have also been pictures in the last few days of pallets and branches floating through. This morning it was a car tire. That doesn’t do justice to the demands of an Olympic race.”

The coach of open water Olympic champion Florian Wellbrock did not dare to make a prediction: “Will they be able to get it under control? I don’t know.”

Triathletes are not allowed to swim in the river for the time being

On Sunday morning, the first training session for the triathlon swimming competition was cancelled at short notice, as the Olympic Organising Committee and the World Triathlon Federation announced. The organisers justified this with the poor water quality. Only the running and cycling training on the Olympic course was to take place.

The tests carried out on Saturday did not provide the guarantees required by the triathlon umbrella organization that the water was sufficiently clean to allow swimming, it was said. The reason was the rain in Paris in recent days. “Paris 2024 and World Triathlon reaffirm that the health of the athletes is a priority,” the Olympic organizers said.

Weather forecast gives Olympic organizers hope

For a long time, there was debate in Paris about whether the quality of the water in the Seine was really good enough for competitions to take place there. In recent years, 1.4 billion euros were invested in sewage treatment plants and the sewage system in the greater Paris area to improve water quality. One of the measures now being taken is to prevent toilet wastewater from entering the river along with the water masses during heavy rain.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo had made the Seine the focal point of Paris’ Olympic bid: several swimming competitions are to be held in the river that flows through the middle of the city and where the opening ceremony took place on Saturday. In mid-July, Hidalgo herself swam in the Seine to demonstrate that the river had been cleaned up successfully.

However, during checks carried out in recent months, the water quality left much to be desired. The city justified this by citing the unusually humid weather and low temperatures. This is because higher temperatures and a lower water level in the Seine mean that pathogens are broken down more quickly.

The weather forecast with plenty of sunshine in the next few days makes the organizers optimistic that the competitions will not have to be postponed. They are confident that the limit values ​​will be undercut again by the time the first triathlon decision is made on Tuesday.