Walking along the Seine River is famously romantic. But swimming in it — as athletes are scheduled to do during the 2024 Paris Olympics — is causing concern as officials closely monitor bacteria levels in the water.
The focus is on E. coli and enterococci, germs that indicate fecal contamination, or the presence of raw sewage in the river.
When the levels reach a certain threshold, people swimming in the water can be at risk for gastrointestinal illness, eye infection, and infected cuts or wounds on their bodies, experts warn.
Heavy rain, such as the downpour during the opening ceremony on Friday, July 26, and over the weekend, can cause untreated wastewater to overflow into the Seine. Triathlon swim training sessions in the river were canceled on Sunday, July 28, and Monday, July 29, over water quality concerns.
“We are nonetheless confident in our ability to organize the events as planned from (Tuesday, July 30),” a spokesperson for the Paris 2024 organizing committee tells TODAY.com in a statement.
Citing an improving weather forecast, the organization says it expects the water quality to return to below limits by that time.
Previously, the levels of both fecal bacteria at Pont Alexandre III — the ornate bridge where athletes are set to begin their swims — spiked on July 21, according to the most recent data published by the city of Paris.
It’s uncomfortable to think about, but there’s always some fecal contamination in fresh water, so it’s all about the dose, says Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and a spokesperson for the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
“Anytime you jump into a body of water — not just the Seine, not just a city river — you have to recognize you’re not jumping into sterile water,” Adalja tells TODAY.com.
“Some of the coverage on this has been thinking that the river should have no bacteria, which is biologically a fantasy.”
What Olympic events are in the Seine River?
There are five swimming events taking place in the Seine at the Paris Olympics.
The first in the schedule is the swimming portion of the triathlon. The men’s competition is scheduled for Tuesday, July 30; the women’s is on Wednesday, July 31. The mixed relay is set for Aug. 5.
Marathon swimming in the Seine is set to take place a few days later: the women’s competition on Aug. 8 and the men’s race on Aug. 9.
Is it safe to swim in the Seine?
It depends on the levels of bacteria in the water, which often change. A big factor is recent weather because heavy rain can send raw sewage overflowing into the Seine.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo swam in the river on July 17 to demonstrate it’s clean enough for the Olympics after a nine-year cleanup effort.
But the Seine was once so dirty that swimming in it was banned for more than a century, NBC News reported.
One reason is city design.
Modern cities have separate pipes for sewage and storm water, but old cities like Paris have a single pipe for both, so when it rains a lot, that capacity is overwhelmed and the contents can spill into the Seine, says Dr. Nicole Iovine, an infectious disease specialist and chief epidemiologist at UF Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville, Florida.
It’s not just human waste that’s of concern.
“When rainwater that’s flowing over streets ends up in those pipes, you’re going to run into sewage that comes from animals as well — rodents, for example,” Iovine tells TODAY.com.
‘You’re bringing in additional types of bacteria that can also cause illness in humans.”
What are the potential health dangers?
Swimmers always swallow some water, especially when they’re making a big effort during competition. If the levels of fecal bacteria in the water are high, they may get gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain, Adalja and Iovine say.
“We’re in a state of balance between good bacteria and bad bacteria,” Iovine notes.
“If you get in an influx of bad bacteria that disrupts that homeostasis, that’s where illness can occur.”
If the water gets into the eyes, it can cause eye infections like conjunctivitis, both experts say.
Elite athletes taking part in the Olympics are healthy and strong so they would likely experience minor illnesses, Adalja adds.
“But even if they don’t get hospitalized, if you’re an Olympian and you’re having nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, and it’s ruining your Olympics, that’s pretty devastating,” he says.
Wound infections might be more serious, he warns. There’s also the possibility of leptospirosis, a disease spread through bacteria in animal urine, which can cause fever and chills, and usually requires antibiotics to resolve, Iovine adds.
There’s really nothing the athletes can do to prevent illness other than wash any cuts or wounds with clean water after they finish their swim and be alert for the symptoms of gastrointestinal upset, both experts say.
Is Seine safe for the Olympics?
World Triathlon, the governing body for the sport, says it will meet with organizers on the morning of each scheduled event to analyze the latest water quality results and decide whether the swim can take place. The decision will be announced that day at 3:30 a.m. local time.
There’s the option for postponing the events in the Seine — contingency days are scheduled for both marathon and triathlon swimming, organizers say.
If water quality doesn’t improve, “the rules of World Triathlon allow, as a final resort, for the competition to be held is a duathlon format,” a spokesperson for the Paris 2024 organizing committee tells TODAY.com in a statement.
To guarantee marathon swimming will still take place, the backup plan is for athletes to swim in the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium, a competition venue that’s already being used for rowing events, the spokesperson adds.
How did they clean the Seine for the Olympics?
France has spent $1.5 billion to upgrade the city’s antiquated sewage system, including renovating sewer infrastructure, upgrading wastewater treatment plants and building a giant underground water storage basin, NBC News reported.
That overflow tank, called the Austerlitz Basin, can hold the equivalent of the water in 20 Olympic swimming pools so that when it rains in Paris, the excess water can collect there instead of overwhelming the system and being discharged into the Seine, Paris 24 notes.
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