Olympic triathlete reports severe viral infection
For three days, Belgian triathlete Claire Michel had been vomiting after catching a virus. Last week, she swam in the Seine for the Olympic competition. German open water swimmers are also concerned about the Parisian river.
Belgian triathlete Claire Michel did not contract the E. coli virus during the individual race last Wednesday while swimming in the Seine. "Blood tests showed that I was infected with a virus (not E. coli)," she announced on Instagram. She added that she "suffered from vomiting and diarrhea for three days, which left me quite depleted." After Michel's illness, Belgium withdrew its team from the mixed competition on Monday.
Teams from Switzerland and Norway also reported sick athletes after the individual races, but neither made a direct connection to the problematic water quality of the Seine. "I was sick for about twelve hours from Friday to Saturday night," Norwegian Vetle Bergsvik Thorn told the AFP news agency. "But I don't know if it was food poisoning or from the Seine."
Question marks also among open water swimmers
However, there are more competitions in the river. German open water swimmers want to get their own impression of the conditions in the Seine on Wednesday. "We've just received the current water report. Everything is set to green," said long-distance national coach Bernd Berkhahn. "We'll decide tomorrow whether we'll jump in or not." The athletes will go to the Olympic competition site at Pont Alexandre III in the morning. No training was possible there on Tuesday due to poor water quality in the Parisian river.
When asked about concerns for his athletes' health, Berkhahn said, "We have to rely on the organizer's statements. That's a bit difficult for me, but we'll just do it this way." The women's race is scheduled for Thursday, and the men's race for Friday. The water quality in the Seine has been discussed for weeks. Earlier today, World Aquatics announced that the enterococci values had exceeded the set limits at one of the four sampling points.
If the conditions in the Seine are not suitable for the races, the rowing venue could be used as an alternative. Looking ahead to the first scheduled 10km race, Berkhahn predicted, "It currently looks very much like the women's race will take place on August 8."
For a long time, there had been discussions in Paris about whether the water quality in the Seine was good enough to host competitions. 1.4 billion euros have been invested in wastewater treatment plants and the sewage system in the Paris region in recent years to improve water quality. It is now prevented, among other things, that toilet waste also ends up in the river during heavy rain.
Despite the concerns raised by German open water swimmers, they are still planning to evaluate the conditions in the Seine on Wednesday. Claire Michel, the Belgian triathlete, participated in the Seine for the Olympic competition last week before falling ill with a virus, not E. coli.
