The Japan Times - 'Below acceptable standards': Olympic open water test in Seine postponed

EUR -
AED 3.812314
AFN 80.802305
ALL 99.875925
AMD 415.326653
ANG 1.871101
AOA 948.678688
ARS 1091.168064
AUD 1.670073
AWG 1.87089
AZN 1.764821
BAM 1.954043
BBD 2.096255
BDT 126.616182
BGN 1.956028
BHD 0.391227
BIF 3072.686256
BMD 1.037942
BND 1.403124
BOB 7.174551
BRL 6.090229
BSD 1.038207
BTN 89.909178
BWP 14.390163
BYN 3.397173
BYR 20343.662586
BZD 2.085174
CAD 1.502789
CDF 2961.248651
CHF 0.945087
CLF 0.037047
CLP 1022.352083
CNY 7.459168
CNH 7.577803
COP 4319.706885
CRC 526.793463
CUC 1.037942
CUP 27.505462
CVE 110.165969
CZK 25.157609
DJF 184.875795
DKK 7.461915
DOP 64.138328
DZD 140.365072
EGP 52.137382
ERN 15.56913
ETB 130.980451
FJD 2.410001
FKP 0.854836
GBP 0.836296
GEL 2.968559
GGP 0.854836
GHS 15.88572
GIP 0.854836
GMD 75.24793
GNF 8974.197952
GTQ 8.035776
GYD 217.754255
HKD 8.088542
HNL 26.581843
HRK 7.659543
HTG 135.776828
HUF 408.585517
IDR 16928.10695
ILS 3.717425
IMP 0.854836
INR 89.889771
IQD 1360.070847
IRR 43697.356465
ISK 146.70295
JEP 0.854836
JMD 163.784092
JOD 0.73611
JPY 160.699342
KES 134.153687
KGS 90.768319
KHR 4173.906161
KMF 490.791128
KPW 934.147887
KRW 1505.031455
KWD 0.320298
KYD 0.865218
KZT 538.58326
LAK 22598.576726
LBP 93239.836966
LKR 308.930806
LRD 206.094736
LSL 19.229022
LTL 3.064773
LVL 0.627841
LYD 5.093201
MAD 10.413149
MDL 19.321538
MGA 4867.947496
MKD 61.54676
MMK 3371.195027
MNT 3526.926921
MOP 8.33157
MRU 41.226359
MUR 48.419791
MVR 15.995065
MWK 1800.268954
MXN 21.491139
MYR 4.624005
MZN 66.335341
NAD 19.229022
NGN 1562.102681
NIO 38.149581
NOK 11.754412
NPR 143.845685
NZD 1.839197
OMR 0.399591
PAB 1.038267
PEN 3.863205
PGK 4.154904
PHP 60.59817
PKR 289.486661
PLN 4.221085
PYG 8196.395157
QAR 3.77917
RON 4.97631
RSD 117.121397
RUB 102.235271
RWF 1473.383271
SAR 3.893176
SBD 8.774439
SCR 14.808236
SDG 623.802945
SEK 11.478533
SGD 1.408342
SHP 0.854836
SLE 23.742969
SLL 21765.124029
SOS 593.143806
SRD 36.436929
STD 21483.303155
SVC 9.08479
SYP 13495.321461
SZL 19.222517
THB 34.895676
TJS 11.316927
TMT 3.643176
TND 3.318717
TOP 2.430964
TRY 37.219027
TTD 7.042635
TWD 34.147253
TZS 2646.752337
UAH 43.381387
UGX 3825.56111
USD 1.037942
UYU 45.049504
UZS 13467.296686
VES 60.082037
VND 26031.584574
VUV 123.226555
WST 2.907096
XAF 655.326872
XAG 0.032753
XAU 0.00037
XCD 2.80509
XDR 0.793637
XOF 653.903752
XPF 119.331742
YER 258.317781
ZAR 19.364983
ZMK 9342.71846
ZMW 29.014027
ZWL 334.21689
  • RBGPF

    2.7100

    64.91

    +4.18%

  • BCC

    2.3400

    128.66

    +1.82%

  • NGG

    0.9700

    61.74

    +1.57%

  • BCE

    0.2000

    23.9

    +0.84%

  • CMSC

    0.0700

    23.68

    +0.3%

  • RELX

    1.1100

    50.35

    +2.2%

  • CMSD

    0.1600

    24.22

    +0.66%

  • RIO

    1.1900

    60.91

    +1.95%

  • RYCEF

    0.0700

    7.45

    +0.94%

  • JRI

    -0.0200

    12.57

    -0.16%

  • SCS

    0.0700

    11.64

    +0.6%

  • VOD

    0.0600

    8.61

    +0.7%

  • GSK

    0.3000

    35.36

    +0.85%

  • BP

    0.4800

    31.61

    +1.52%

  • BTI

    0.4200

    39.68

    +1.06%

  • AZN

    0.9900

    71.24

    +1.39%

'Below acceptable standards': Olympic open water test in Seine postponed
'Below acceptable standards': Olympic open water test in Seine postponed / Photo: Bertrand GUAY - AFP

'Below acceptable standards': Olympic open water test in Seine postponed

A pre-Olympic open water swimming test event scheduled Saturday in the Seine has been pushed back a day because the water "currently remains below acceptable standards", the French Swimming Federation (FFN) announced on Friday.

Text size:

"The decision has been made, in consultation with public health authorities and event organising partners, to postpone the women's race originally scheduled for August 5," the FFN said in a statement.

"The quality of the water in the Seine currently remains below acceptable standards for safeguarding the health of swimmers."

Initially, the women were to compete on Saturday and the men on Sunday.

They will now compete successively Sunday at 0530GMT for women and at 0930GMT for men over a 10km loop between the Pont Alexandre III and the Pont de l'Alma, the same route as the 2024 Olympic event.

Persistent heavy rain in Paris had lead to concerns over pollution from the overflow of sewage.

Friday morning's training session had already been cancelled, and organisers will again analyse water samples before Sunday's competition.

"Water quality continues to be closely monitored," the FFN said.

 

"Following recent heavy rains in Paris, the quality of the water in the Seine is currently below acceptable standards for safeguarding the health of swimmers," a FFN spokesperson said after deciding along with World Aquatics and French health authorities to scrap Friday's practice.

- Deadly bacteria -

Summer rains wash dirt from paths and roads into the water with the overflow of sewage causing bacterial pollution in particular from the potentially-deadly E.coli, which can also cause serious intestinal infections.

Based on 42 samples from June and July, French authorities had given the green light "in principle" for this weekend's competition and the swimming leg of the triathlon from August 17-20.

On Friday, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo's office insisted that "one year from the Games, the sanitation dynamic continues with the completion of the most significant work to improve water quality in the coming months, in particular to deal with these exceptional weather conditions".

"The Paris region has suffered the heaviest summer rainfall recorded over the past 20 years," it added.

The events are also a prelude to the future return of swimming in the Seine promised by Hidalgo from 2025 on three sites where swimming has been prohibited since 1923.

For this Olympic event, organisers have long scheduled to be able to postpone by two or three days, in the event of storms and heavy rain.

Olympic open water swimming has frequently been hit by pollution concerns.

At the end of the test event in 2019 ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, swimmers protested against the quality of the water in Tokyo Bay.

At the Rio Olympics in 2016, the prospect of swimming in Guanabara Bay, also made headlines.

Y.Kato--JT