An Olympic triathlete has revealed she witnessed things “we shouldn’t talk about” while swimming in the Seine river.
In the lead-up to the 2024 Paris Olympics, organizers had promoted their goal of cleaning the Seine to make it safe for event use.
This effort included a $1.5 billion infrastructure project aimed at purifying the water in the polluted river to make it suitable for swimming.
However, this ambition faced a setback when an athlete fell ill after swimming in the river, which flows through Paris.
The triathlon was allowed to proceed despite concerns about high levels of E Coli in the water.
E Coli, often associated with fecal matter, can cause various health issues such as diarrhea, pneumonia, urinary tract infections, and sepsis.
Despite the ambitious project to clean the Seine, triathlete Jolien Vermeylen shared that she had unsettling experiences in the water.
Vermeylen, representing Belgium in the women’s world triathlon, described encountering debris during her 1500-meter swim in the Seine.
Speaking to Flemish TV channel VTM, she said: “While swimming under the bridge, I felt and saw things that we shouldn’t think about too much.”
After completing the race, the athlete hoped she wouldn’t fall ill from the swim.
She said: “We’ll know tomorrow if I’m sick or not. It doesn’t taste like Coca-Cola or Sprite, of course.”
Vermeylen, who finished in 24th place, mentioned that she ingested a lot of water during her swim in the river.
In June, tests revealed E Coli levels up to ten times the acceptable limit.
Organizers noted: “Despite the improvement on the water quality levels in the last hours, the readings at some points of the swim course are still above the acceptable limits,”
Vermeylen highlighted the Seine’s long-standing pollution issue, stating: “The Seine has been dirty for a hundred years, so they can’t say that the safety of the athletes is a priority. That’s bulls**t!”
The athlete also took precautions before swimming.
She said: “I took pro-biotics, I drank my Yakult, I couldn’t do more. I had the idea of not drinking water, but yes, it failed.
“It was now or never, and they couldn’t cancel the race completely either. Now they just have to hope that there won’t be too many sick athletes.”