French Journalist Shocked by Filthy Seine River at Triathlon Venue

“The mayor was promoting water quality improvement by swimming in it, but from our perspective, there’s no way we’d want to swim in it. If it rains the day before, the water will get even dirtier. I just hope the area doesn’t end up covered in vomit at the transition from the swim to the bike leg (laughs).”

On July 28, shortly after the opening of the Paris Olympics, a French journalist walking around the Eiffel Tower area told our reporter about the Seine River, which will be the venue for the triathlon on July 30.

“The Seine River is famously dirty, and experts say that there are four times more E. coli in the water compared to the Dotonbori River. Furthermore, it has been pointed out that if it rains the day before, the concentration could increase twelvefold.” (said the national newspaper reporter)

On the day our reporter visited the riverbank, the water was a deep green. For those from Kansai, it might resemble the Dotonbori River, while for those from Kanto, it could be likened to the Kanda River seen from the Sobu Line train.

“To improve the water quality, the city of Paris invested about 200 billion yen, but there has been little improvement. Moreover, since it rained on the opening ceremony and the following day, the E. coli levels in the Seine River on July 30, when the athletes will swim, will likely be astronomical.” (the reporter added) 

In fact, the swim practice for the triathlon scheduled on the 28th was canceled due to the worsening water quality.

“They say the decision was made with the athletes’ health as the top priority, but if they were truly concerned about health, they shouldn’t have chosen such a dirty river in the first place. The French are so image-conscious that once they decided it would be ‘cool’ to hold the event on the Seine, they wouldn’t back down. They set the conclusion first and then try to make everything fit. Sometimes this turns out well, but in this case, it’s hard to defend.” (said the French journalist)

Olympians will have to swim 1.5 km in this river. It would be great if all participants can finish the race in good health.