Link to the article ? The massive basin design to retain rain water is not yet operationnal, it's obvious water quality has not yet improved given the rain we had recently.

A massive storm would exceed the retention capacity, but its unlikely so I'm curious to see what's new in the article you mentionned.
If a massive storm still happens, the plan is to postpone by a few days.

As a contingency I'm surprised the organisers haven't simply looked at a back up venue, maybe not in Paris but somewhere close by with a lake swim with little or no chance of water quality issues. I appreciate it looks a simple task as an outsider but can they really risk it being a duathlon or forcing athletes into filthy water?

A small piece on the BBC website today.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/68777061

Here's the base article: https://www.surfrider.eu/...ine-our-purple-flag/
on which the wider news reporting is based. And here's their letter to the organisers (text translated in main article):
https://www.surfrider.fr/...erte-QES_JOP2024.pdf
The main sources of pollution in the river:
→ Run-off and malfunctions at treatment plants upstream of the test area (which can be caused by large inflows during periods of heavy rain).
→ Barges and dwellings not connected to the wastewater networks
→ Malfunctions in the sewage network
The massive Austerlitz bassin works are not yet in operation. https://time.com/...paris-olympics-2024/ And it's not clear how vigorously the revised regulations on boats/barges/riverside direct sewage discharge prohibition is being enforced (needs a Germanic rather than a 'French' approach, to have the comprehensive effect needed).
Note: 'Surfrider' have been able to monitor the quality of the water in the Seine up until now but in a few weeks’ time due to the closure of the quays [why being closed?], it will therefore be impossible for their teams to continue taking samples [from the most relevant places].

Everyone pool swims in waves of 8 (maybe 16 if they are willing to share the lane :) ) then a run through Paris to T1 and carry on from there.

what a suprise that water quality is worse in the winter .....

• Most rainy days are in January, March, May, November and December.
• On average, January is the most rainy with 17 days of rain/snow.
• On average, July is the driest month with 11 rainy days.

That's a better idea than making it a duathlon !

(The organisers need a seriously red hot poker up their arses for this - and Tokyo too - it is completely and utterly predictable that the water quality will be (no pun intended) shit in these locations.
They need to stop the Farce of insisting it being held in tje capital and take it to where there is a properly suitable venue.

(Surprised they don't try to have the sailing there too, ignoring the need for the sea).

Same cluster for London 2012 with the mountain bike events being in a shite farmers field in Essex with some boulders and building aggregate dumped in to make obstacles, rather than going to a venue 100 miles away from London with real mountain biking terrain.

Noting that they can move the race date to make sure it's when it hasn't previously rained (program currently early in Olympics calendar) means they'll have a Tri. They'll get "better" water quality in those conditions and thus all will be good.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

There is actually a race in Versailles ttps://http://www.versaillesutriathlonfestival.com which could have fullfilled the 'post card' requirement' and the race takes place in a pond, murky but not subject to rains/flooding.

If the race does not happen it will really look bad for the whole organization. Both the mayor and the president have been saying for months that they pledge to swim in the Seine in July when most people consider it foolish....

It 's funny how people disagreed on the course. Some, like Talbot i think, thought it was (looked) great, a TdF like postcard while other found the course uneventful and would lead to another boring run race.

It's the Olympics ffs. Having it in some venue other than the capital/centre would mean it was 'just another race'. Having it as planned may not be a great bike course, but that's not the point. The point is that our sport allows 'desirable locations' to show off the sights of the city, or at least within sight. We're not confined to some velodrome or stadium or arena the way so many other sports are.
The Paris, Ile de France and French authorities have taken steps to ensure, as much as possible, that the Seine will be at or above the standard required, as measured. If it's good enough for sharks . . .

I commute there daily, I'm pretty sure only a limited part of the quays will be closed to prepare the accommodations for the public and opening ceremony, and I don't think that taking the sample 1km down or upstream of the actual race start point would change anything. Again, I live there so I can see it every day.

Sounds like an article created to generate clicks and comments. Samples taken at the worse time of the year, without the new infrastructure. Its useless.

Every single Olympics/Football World Cup have stadiums won't be finished in time, high crime in area etc scare stories.

I reckon they'll have it sorted on the day, maybe half the field will end up with the shits for a week afterwards though!

So the team management question is: irrespective of how clean the water is going to be, should athletes risk the water during the swim familiarisation opportunities, in the immediate run up to the individual?

There's very little value in course fam swim if there are potentially real outcome concerns. So as I said a month ago with the "PR" stunt of the mayor jumping into the river. I want to see what he's like 24-48 hours later. Of course he's going to jump in and be all smiles. It's the 18 hours after that, that sickness creeps in. If he's sick 2 days later, there's your answer.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

The answer is probably no, the bigger question is how it effects the MTR, if it's going to make athletes sick, there's all kinds of variables there.

Can teams pull athletes out the individual for whatever reason and have them race the MTR?

Germany for example, a decent chance of a medal in MTR, slight chance in individual?

In France, yes. In the capital? Nope. Not necessary. Are they holding rhe sailing in the middle of Paris too ?

Can teams pull athletes out the individual for whatever reason and have them race the MTR?

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Yes but technically they aren't pulled from the OD. In that case they would simply DNS. But your federation roster must come from the OD roster.....so whether you race it, whether you DNF it, whether you DNS, those athletes the only ones who can then race MTR.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

And the proposed alternate venue, Versailles, is actually in Ile de France (Greater Paris).

SHE (will be all smiles).

How hard could it be to have a planned back up course planned and communicated so that athletes could be aware. It seems like very basic contingency planning and this is the Olympics !

I do not agree with the comment on showcasing Paris being the be all end all if it means the tri has the risk of being a duathlon. Just plan the back up course/location and hope it’s not needed.

It would be an epic failure if the Olympic tri ended up a duathlon even if the expectation is water quality will be better at the time at least have a plan communicated well ahead of time.

Why are you talking about the possibility of becoming a duathlon ?

The plan, if a huge storm comes and rain exceed the new basin capacity, is to postpone by a few days. Not to turn it into a duathlon.

It was right in the official statement from the committee reported in a few articles yesterday . Unless that was misquoted but it was in more than one press report. I’ll see if I can find the links.

Couple screen shots of some of what was reported yesterday. Hopefully this is not a serious possibility.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/...e-river-32552113.amp

I cannot see the screenshots, however I read the article from the Guardian. Its is in contradiction with everything else I read, I don't think it is a meaningful possibility. Clicbait or "Putaclic" Journalism as we say in French.

I don't think this possibility justifies spending a tremendous amount of money to prepare a second location for the race. Particularly for triathlon which, lets be honest, not a lot of people care about. And no, even if I'm really not a city guy, there nothing that comes close to this particular location.

I saw it on the tv. It was a recording of the evening news discussion programme. I don’t think it is clickbait, I think it is a real possibility.

Except the current Ironman World Champion is French. And the French have multiple realistic medal opportunities in both male and female categories in triathlon.

So it would almost be like Norway not having their ski jump tower built in time if the Olympics were there.

Point being the French Olympic committee is going to care much more about a sport they have a strong chance of winning than one they don't.

So enter tinfoil hat mode: do the French benefit a little more if it's a duathlon or shortened swim?

The French would benefit most out of there being a swim, especially the men!

Report on Triathlete.com about this....

https://www.triathlete.com/...Ab6XvuOIM2HS0jyxzQBw

Good article that seems to explain where things stand - it seems the swim will be a go if the readings are even within range of the acceptable levels……it states they can allow the swim even if over stated tolerance levels which is interesting.

It’s a cool venue and I get the desire to make it work. Not sure I’d want to be swimming 10k in it like the marathon swim !

Being able to move the race to a few days after the rain event is your answer.

Poor para athletes yeah they’ll likely be told it’s Duathlon after all the crowds and pomp and circumstance are gone.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

Then there should be no chance of the swim not happening. If it was a sport with no medal chances, yes I could see them not caring. But they could have 4+ medals in triathlon alone.

Forget the water quality, they have a shark problem.

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-Of course it's 'effing hard, it's IRONMAN!
Team ZOOT
ZOOT, QR, Garmin, HED Wheels, Zealios, FormSwim, Precision Hydration, Rudy Project

An article about British Triathlon’s infection prevention plan.

It’s all very well disinfecting the athletes straight after the race - but they will be drinking on the bike and run before that!

https://www.theguardian.com/...athlon-swim-in-seine

https://www.pressreader.com/australia/the-guardian-australia/20240417/282553023282245
With respect, this is not a 'prevention' plan, it's a risk mitigation plan. Can't stop ingestion of water when swimming.
They describe how they will try to minimise infection (from all sources not just swimming water) and this applies to training sessions too. These protocols will be rehearsed, adopted for the month before, and actually, albeit a pain, would be good practice in the run up to every WTCS event (and worth considering for long course athletes too).
But it will be practical: the aim is to reduce to ALARP so in a competitive environment, of course drinking and eating is just a risk that will have to be accepted. But have disinfectant wipes readily available during training.
Get the kefir in!

My understanding is no one's been allowed to swim in that river for decades as its that filthy, it just blows the mind that a back up course wasn't thought about!

Paris triathlon was held from 2007 to 2012 with the swimming happening in the Seine, first in Bois de Boulogne then just in front of the Tour Eiffel for the last 3 years. It was a fantastic event, I specifically remember 2010 when the transition area was on the Pont d'Iena, which was closed for traffic for the weekend. Great memories.
I think in 2012 they had us sign a discharge on the water quality, but thousands of people swam (and drank some) in the Seine without any major issues. Or died silently :-)
For the first years, they specifically highlighted how the water quality had greatly improved, mentioning lots of fish species back in the river.

Paris Police authorities (who at the time were fed up with securing yet another sporting event in Paris, and looked for a way to end it) finally involved the regional health authority in 2013, who of course said swimming in the Seine was not safe, and that killed the event for several years.

My point is that the average water quality is not worse now than it was 10 years ago, it is in fact better (OK, perhaps not by a lot), given the constant improvement over the years. The big issue is definitely the constant rains / flooding we had in the past months (feels like living in Britain - pink), which explains the recent bad results. Unless July 2024 come as a BIG outlier in rain/storms (and even that should be balanced with the new retention bassin), the swim will be safe.

I don´t think it is a good idea to risk so much with the water quality. Before that you must provide safety to the athletes...sure, Paris is beautiful, but I would move the race to the coast. There a MTR few days later and the athletes must be healthy (and as they are peaking, their inmune system is sort of weak, right?). They have plenty of racing in the olympics in Paris downtown: marathon, walk, cycling...

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Spaniard. Sorry for my english for the sensitive ones :P

They could just put together four brick walls with a cemented floor, 100m long and 20 m wide and put buoys at the corners 90m apart length wise, and 10 m apart width wise. Stick it by the Eiffel tower and fill it for a day with 3 feet deep of water and start them and one end, make them swim 7 loops and exit them at the other end. Just fill it with garden hoses for the events, and then after the event take a bulldozer to it. Probably way cheaper than cleaning up the Seine (all in Pink). Make it an in water start because you can't dive into 3 feet deep water.

gold

This has to be one of the dumbest decisions and debates in recent Olympics history. France has an amazing, world class venue for a triathlon. Nice! They already have venues spread all over the country, nee the world, including Nice. Why they insist on forcing the swim in a polluted river is a face palm. Just move the event to Nice, and do the world a favor.

There're political reasons, why the event is called Paris Summer Olympic Games and not French Summer Olympic Games. Paris has no interest in moving races to Nice. What I can't understand is why we're not hearing about any plan B to choose any nearby lake and do T1 there, while still doing 2nd part of the bike, T2 and run where currently planned.

In 2028 you'll have LA Summer Olympic Games, and probably while organising a race in Santa Barbara will still be fine, nobody would go to Las Vegas.

haha....vacation to Nice to watch grand finale of the Tour de France one weekend and Olympic Tri next weekend !!! Max riding in the mountains and swimming in the ocean in between fighting the tourist crowds!!!

Yeah, but... They already have a major venue in Nice for Football. The Paris Olympics are spread across France & the world (surfing is in Tahiti), despite its name. Or they could use the venue infrastructure in Marseille (football & sailing infrastructure). Or Lille Metropole (basketball & handball venues & infrastructure). Or Bordeaux (more football venue & infrastructure0. They have so many better possibilities out there. Or any lake near Paris. This is nutters.

Thank heavens the London Olympics organizers had the brains not to force folks to swim in the Thames. That is epic nasty.

You pointed out to the other locations I wasn't aware of, thanks.

"we'll see" ;)

There is a nice batheable lake in Cergy, NW of Paris. 15 miles from the Eiffel Tower. Moving the event there seems like a no-brainer to me

Hilly area or flat? Imagine how much of a hilly technical bike course (Leeds esq) would throw everyone's prep and change the dynamics, would be delicious!

Mostly flat area, but they could put a few road bridges in the lap, to spice things up a little

Ha, with a better venue so close to Paris, their decision making has escalated from ordinary face palm to an André René Roussimoff face palm.

I share the sentiment, but there are probably a million legal and regulatory intricacies and obstacles involved in planning another "optional" course.

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"FTP is a bit 2015, don't you think?" - Gustav Iden

Agreed, but there should be a Plan B.

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Rav Dighe
Coach & Director
w: http://www.alohatri.com
e: rav@alohatri.com

100%. They knew how ambitious of a plan this was and to not explore any sort of Plan B is absolutely insane.

A Plan B at this late stage would certainly be tricky. No, my epic face palm of mega-dumb decision making dates back to 8 years ago, when the Paris Olympic Committee said they would stage the swimming events in the Seine as part of their bid. Nucking Futz.

Someone corrects me but I think the same issue happened in Rio 16. The first option was Rodrigo de Freitas lake? but after some time they dismissed the option and sent the race to the ocean.

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Spaniard. Sorry for my english for the sensitive ones :P

They do have a plan B, it's just a plan that neither of us likes. (To reschedule the event; plan C is to do a duathlon.)

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"FTP is a bit 2015, don't you think?" - Gustav Iden