The worldwide swimming federation announced the cancellation of the pre-Olympics swimming test competition due to river pollution after analyzing the most recent water samples, which was scheduled to take place on Sunday in the Seine in Paris.
Following recent significant rains, “water quality in the Seine has remained below acceptable standards for safeguarding swimmers’ health,” according to a statement released on Sunday by World Aquatics.
Based on this past weekend, it is obvious that more effort with Paris 2024 and local authorities is required to guarantee that solid contingency preparations are in place for the next year.
In the hopes that the water quality would improve, Friday’s training had already been canceled and the women’s race was moved from Saturday to Sunday.
Sewers in Paris overflowed due to the recent heavy rainfall, contaminating the Seine.
President of World Aquatics Husain Al Musallam expressed disappointment that the World Aquatics Open Water Swimming World Cup had to be canceled due to the Seine’s water quality, but insisted that the athletes’ health should always come first.
In the run-up to the Olympic Games in 2016, the federation said that it “understands that additional infrastructure projects will be finished to significantly improve water quality in the Seine.”
The thought of hosting Olympic competitions for the top open water swimmers in the world in a city center next summer still excites World Aquatics, the organization said.
The activities serve as a lead-up to the restoration of swimming in the Seine, which Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo pledged will happen starting in 2025 at three locations where it has been outlawed since 1923.
Pollution issues have regularly affected Olympic open water swimming.
Swimmers questioned the condition of the water in Tokyo Bay at the conclusion of the test competition in 2019 before the Olympics in Tokyo.
The possibility of swimming in Guanabara Bay, which is also very filthy, attracted headlines during the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio.
