PARIS: The marathon swimming familiarisation session scheduled for Tuesday in the river Seine has been cancelled because of water pollution concerns, the international federation said.

“After the daily situation me­e­ting this morning between Ville de Paris, Paris 2024 and World Aquatics, it has been dec­ided that the familiarisation session to take place today, 6 Aug­ust 2024, is cancelled,” World Aquatics said in a statement.

While the E. Coli bacteria levels were within the acceptable threshold, the levels of another bacteria, Enterococci, were not.

“The water quality review showed E. coli levels ranged from 326 to 517 (considered “very good” to “good “) at the four collection points taken on 5 August between 5:00 and 6:00 a.m.,” World Aquatics added.

“However, Enterococci levels exceeded World Aquatics maximum thresholds during the morning review. The latest Enterococci samples (taken between 12:30 and 13:20 on 4 August) showed levels exceeding the maximum acceptable World Aquatics thresholds.”

Paris 2024 organisers said it was a “cautious” decision made by World Aquatics and spokesperson Anne Descamps added another familiarisation session was scheduled for Wednesday.

“We are confident the events will go ahead as planned given the weather tendency,” she said.

Training sessions for the swim leg of the triathlon were also cancelled and the men’s race was postponed at the last minute because bacteria levels in the river were too high.

The triathlon mixed relay went ahead as scheduled on Monday after organisers gave the all clear the day before, acknowledging athletes’ demands for more certainty.

French authorities have spent 1.4 billion euros ($1.53 billion) on upgrading the capital’s sewage systems, promising the river will be clean enough for residents to swim in by next summer.

The women’s and men’s marathon swim races — 10-kilometre race in open water — are scheduled for Thursday and Friday.

Organisers have said that marathon swimming can be moved to another location in Vaires-sur-Marne on the River Marne east of Paris if the Seine is too polluted to use.

They said on Tuesday they were “very confident” that the men’s and women’s events would take place in the Seine.

Published in Dawn, August 7th, 2024