Paris Olympics 2024:Due to the Seine water quality, swimming practice was postponed for a second day
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Just one day before the men’s race, on Monday, the triathlon swimming training session was canceled by the Paris Olympics organizers for the second time in a row. This choice was made in response to the Seine River’s water quality being negatively impacted by severe rain. On Tuesday at 8 a.m. (0600 GMT), 55 triathletes will compete from a floating pontoon close to the Pont Alexandre III. This competition will be the first Olympic Seine competition held since 1900.
Wednesday at 8 a.m. is the time for the women’s individual race. Should problems with the water quality continue, August 2 is the backup date for the individual races and August 6 is the date for the mixed relay, according to the organizers. “They still seem really hopeful for the women on Wednesday and the men tomorrow,” said Dan Hugo, the coach of Team Bermuda and spouse of gold medallist Flora Duffy from Tokyo. “However, one or both races may be moved to Friday if necessary.”
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Due to weather, Paris 2024 has already changed a few of the programs, moving men’s skateboarding from Saturday to Monday. The Seine is now swimmable for Parisians, which is a major legacy of the Games. To stop sewage from flowing into the river, France has invested almost $1.4 billion in new wastewater infrastructure. By June of next year, three public swimming areas will be accessible.
The water quality tests conducted on Saturday indicated that the water did not match the necessary criteria, thus Sunday’s training session was also canceled. But the training sessions on the bike and jogging are still the same. “We are optimistic that water quality will restore to acceptable levels before the commencement of the triathlon events on July 30,” organizers said on Monday, citing the weather prediction for the following 36 hours. This is according to Paris 2024 and World Triathlon.
