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London: Officials in Paris are forging ahead with plans to stage an international triathlon in the River Seine next week, despite a deluge rendering the water unsafe for competition.
The Seine will be used for the Olympic marathon swimming, the swimming leg of the triathlon and the para-triathlon at next year’s Olympic Games.
Last weekend, a planned test event, the Open Water Swimming World Cup, was cancelled after heavy rain caused overflows of untreated water into the river.
Paris has experienced its heaviest rainfall in two decades. Test results from samples taken on Sunday showed the water was safe for swimming.
“With a year to go before the Games, the efforts to make the Seine swimmable, led by the state and the City of Paris, continue to significantly improve the quality of the water in the Seine,” Olympic Games Paris 2024 organisers said in a statement.
“Water quality will continue to be monitored carefully, in the confident expectation – based on the current weather forecast – that elite athletes will compete in the Seine later this month, at the World Triathlon and Para Triathlon Test Event Paris scheduled for 17-20 August.
“Prior to and even during the recent rainy period in Paris, water quality in the Seine has regularly achieved the levels required for healthy public swimming, demonstrating the progress that continues to be made.”
Swimming in the Seine has been banned since 1923 because of pollution.
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