Olympic Athletes Face E. coli Risks in Seine River: Hear Their Reactions

‘Hopefully I Can Handle Some E. coli’: Olympic Athletes Swimming in the Seine River Speak Up
Aside from the difficulty of negotiating the strong currents in the river, Olympic triathletes competing in the Seine during the 2024 Paris Games have expressed grave worries.

Once deemed so dirty that swimming was prohibited for a century, the Seine River is now used as a venue for Olympic competitions. Concerns about the water quality have been expressed by some triathletes in the hopes of averting possible E. Coli outbreaks.

After ingesting “a ton of water” during her triathlon competition, Team USA triathlete Taylor Spivey, who participated in the women’s individual triathlon in Paris, expressed serious worries. “Over the past month, I’ve taken a lot of probiotics. Well, we’ll see,” she remarked.

Men’s individual triathlon competitor Seth Rider, Spivey’s colleague, expressed similar feelings. I’m hoping I’m up to handling some E. coli. because I ingested a lot of water there. Most likely everybody did,” he said.

Rider clarified that elite triathletes routinely deal with contaminated water as part of their training. They take precautions, such as taking probiotics, getting a good night’s sleep, and rising early in the morning, since contaminated water is widespread.

He observed that it’s unexpected how much concern there is over the water competitors drink. Perhaps because of this emphasis on water quality, it’s simple for others to make athletes feel uneasy or exposed. Rider said, “I’m here to race; I don’t really care what the water is like.”

Jolien Vermeylen, a Belgian triathlete, shared Rider’s cynicism on the quality of the water in the Seine and amusingly related her failed attempt to stay away from eating it while racing.

“I swallowed quite a bit of water, so we’ll find out if I get sick or not,” Vermeylen clarified. Naturally, it doesn’t taste like Sprite or Cola. She said, “While swimming under the bridge, I also smelled and saw things you shouldn’t think too much about.”

Vermeylen was skeptical that the water quality would get better on race day, pointing out that it was probably made worse by the rain the night before. She stated that there was no way to postpone the race because doing so would have embarrassed France and the organizers greatly.

Vermeylen hoped that athletes will continue to be healthy in light of this. She talked about taking probiotics and drinking Yakult to keep herself healthy.

Marten Van Riel, Vermeylen’s teammate, also expressed disapproval at the Seine’s subpar water quality. “We couldn’t see our hands while swimming, so let’s hope it was clean. It was that hazy. Because of the water I ingested, I also feel some stomach pain,” Van Riel stated.

Van Riel was able to keep his concentration in spite of these difficulties. Distractions were successfully tuned out, as he concurred with editor Marc Herremans that the circumstances were “the same for everyone.” He was successful because he gave the race his whole focus.

Cassandre Beaugrand, the gold medallist in the women’s race, had a different take on swimming in the Seine than the Belgian and American competitors. The thought of swimming in the river did not concern her.

The French triathlete’s assurance is in line with the substantial efforts being made to guarantee swimmers’ safety in the Seine. The Associated Press revealed in June 2024 that a $1.5 billion expenditure would be made to clean up the river in time for the Olympics.

An International Olympic Committee (IOC) official named Christophe Dubi stated, “We are confident that we will swim in the Seine this summer.” He expressed confidence in the safety of the Seine for these sports.

In addition to concerns about the water quality of the Seine, some athletes encountered difficulties with the river’s strong currents. The current was characterized by Spivey as “insane” and “shocking.” She also believed that after one lap, the competitors might be pulled out of the race by officials.

Spivey said, remembering that incident, “That current—wow. It was as though I was stationary on a treadmill.” Van Riel and Vermeylen noted the difficult flow of the Seine, just like Spivey did.

“It can be as high as 1.0 m/sec, but I think it was closer to 0.9,” Vermeylen said. We hardly moved forward as we swam past a boat at one point. So, yes, that was also amazingly fantastic.”

The triathletes performed quite well in their events despite the difficult currents. In the women’s race, Beth Potter of Britain got bronze, Julie Derron of Switzerland took silver, and Beaugrand claimed gold. The men’s winners were Hayden Wilde of New Zealand, Léo Bergère of France, and British athlete Alex Yee.

In 2024, athletes competing in the Paris Olympics enjoyed the thrill and competition despite worries about swimming in the historically filthy Seine River. Their fervor endured despite the difficulties, demonstrating the Olympians’ tenacity and spirit.