There’s no arguing that the Paris Olympics offered up three incredible triathlon events, offering exciting competitions in a spectacular setting. The one thing hanging over the competition, though, was the water quality that forced organizers to postpone the men’s race for a day, setting up a spectacular day of racing that included both the men’s and women’s individual races.
Today the Paris 2024, World Triathlon and World Aquatics published the results of the water quality tests done during the Olympic Games. The data shows that the E. coli levels were incredibly high during the days leading up to the triathlon races thanks to heavy rainfall that occurred during the opening ceremonies for the Games (July 26) and the first Saturday of competition (July 27). Measurements on July 27 saw the E. coli levels surge to more than 2.5 times the allowable limit.
Both World Triathlon and World Aquatics had set the acceptable levels for the triathlon and open water swim events as less than 1,000 CFU/ 100 ml for E. coli and less that 400 CFU/ 100 ml for enterococci.
Click here to see the water quality readings from July 19 to August 9
The men’s and women’s events were held on July 31, and the E. coli levels were between 192 and 579 at the four different testing points.
| Date | Time | Location | E. Coli (CFU/100 ml) |
Quality | Enterococci
(CFU/100 ml) |
Quality | Double triathlon competition – decision based on data from 05:20 of 30/07
Total rainfall 31 July – 2 August: 43.8 mm |
| 31 July | 06:00 | Pont Alexandre III (RD) | 249 | Very Good | 94 | Very Good | |
| 05:30 | Pont des Invalides (RG) | 276 | Very Good | 76 | Very Good | ||
| 05:20 | Port du Gros Cailloux (RG) | 192 | Very Good | 78 | Very Good | ||
| 05:10 | Pont de l’Alma (RG) | 308 | Very Good | 74 | Very Good | ||
| 11:40 | Pont Alexandre III (RD) | 579 | Good | 211 | Good | ||
| 12:00 | Pont des Invalides (RG) | 272 | Very Good | 114 | Very Good | ||
| 12:15 | Port du Gros Cailloux (RG) | 411 | Very Good | 86 | Very Good | ||
| 12:30 | Pont de l’Alma (RG) | 365 | Very Good | 153 | Very Good |
While those levels were well under the World Triathlon standard, it’s important to note that the acceptable E. coli standards are about four times higher than those in North America, where most beaches are closed when E. coli levels are higher than 235 CFU/ 100 ml. (In most jurisdictions in Canada the cutoff is actually 200 CFU/ 100 ml.
“You wouldn’t catch me in there,” says Canadian water quality expert about swimming in the Seine
The data for August 5 was also well within the World Triathlon limits, but well above North American standards – between 326 and 779 CFU/ 100 ml for the E. coli measurements.
| Date | Time | Location | E. Coli (CFU/100 ml) |
Quality | Enterococci
(CFU/100 ml) |
Quality | Triathlon competition maintained – the latest analysis results confirm that the quality of the water in the Seine at the triathlon site has improved in recent hours, and prospective analyses indicate that the quality of the water will be within the limits acceptable to World Triathlon. As a result, World Triathlon took the decision on 04/08 to maintain the competition on 05/08. |
| 5 August | 05:00 | Alexandre III Bridge (RD) | 326 | Very Good | 378 | Good | |
| 05:30 | Pont des Invalides (RG) | 411 | Very Good | 242 | Good | ||
| 11:30 | Pont Alexandre III (RD) | 770 | Good | 210 | Very Good | ||
| 12:10 | Pont des Invalides (RG) | 649 | Good | 50 | Very Good |
The Paris Olympic organizers and French politicians invested heavily in the Seine cleanup both in terms of political capital and hard cash. Millions of Euros were invested on five different projects designed to increase the capacity of the sewage network that would reduce amount of pollution going into the river and make the water safe for swimming. There was also a new reservoir constructed to store and treat water from the river, and millions of Euros are being spent on connecting homes to the new sewage networks.
One of the goals of the Games was to “give the Seine back to Parisiens,” Aurelie Merle, the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics Executive Director Sport Competitions, said. According to today’s release, the organization achieved its goal.
“Holding these competitions in the Seine is also symbolic of Paris 2024’s ambition: to make the Games spectacular but also responsible and purposeful,” the Games organizers wrote. “The efforts made under the Plan Baignade (Bathing Plan) by the State, the City of Paris and all the stakeholders involved for many years now in cleaning up the river have borne fruit, with the Games acting as an accelerator.”
There’s no doubt that the efforts to clean up the Seine have made the water in the river much better than it was before. And there’s also no doubt that choosing the site provided an incredible showcase for the sport and the city. Many athletes expressed frustration over the uncertainty of the race venue – the delay for a day, the possibility that the race would have turned into a duathlon – that likely wouldn’t have been a factor had a different venue with more reliable water quality had been chosen.
In the end organizers took a chance with the Seine, and were able to put on a triathlon race with water quality well within their defined limits. They might not have been able to do that at most venues in North America, but it all worked in Paris. The three triathlon events and two open water swims proved that.
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