Paris Olympics: Open-Water Swimmers Enter Seine for Training Session; Concerns Remain

Paris Olympics: Open-Water Swimmers Enter Seine for Training Session

One day after an open-water swimming training session was canceled due to unsatisfactory water conditions in the Seine River, athletes entered the Paris waterway on Wednesday to familiarize themselves with the water and course for Olympic Games competition. The women’s 10K events is scheduled for Thursday at 7 a.m. (Paris time) while the men’s 10K events is scheduled for Friday at 7 a.m.

Water conditions of the Seine, which is highly polluted, have been a regular topic leading up to and during the Paris Games. The men’s triathlon was postponed a day earlier in the Games when water-level readings did not meet required standards. More, at least four athletes who competed in triathlon in Paris have become ill, with Belgium having to withdraw from the mixed relay after one of its athletes was beset by a virus.

On Wednesday morning, however, the conditions were deemed acceptable and the course for open water has been set up, providing a sensational backdrop for the athletes. Multiple monuments are visible along the course, including the Eiffel Tower. Swimmers will complete six laps of the 1.67-kilometer course.

According to the Associated Press, some of the top names in open-water swimming took advantage of the familiarization session on Wednesday, including the Netherlands’ Sharon van Rouwendaal, the 10K gold medalist in 2016 and the silver medalist in the event in 2020. Also entering the Seine for the first time was distance star Austria’s Felix Aubock, who has reservations about the water conditions.

“I think if anyone’s saying they’re not concerned at all, they’re probably lying,” Aubock told the Associated Press. “I am concerned. I just hope and trust the organization in the sense that they let us in when it’s safe enough to do so. But, of course, you’re concerned because no one wants to get ill or sick.”

Beck, Cunha & Van Rouwendaal Among Women’s Field

The women’s event gets the open water underway on Thursday with 24 swimmers from 17 countries taking to the pontoon at Pont Alexandre III at 0730 local time.

The field will do six laps of a 1.67k circuit which seems them swim with the current one way and against it on the way back.

Leonie Beck won 10k gold at the 2023 worlds in Fukuoka to guarantee her place at Paris 2024.

The German was 20th at the Doha worlds in February when she was in the midst of heavy training before returning to take gold at the European Championships in Belgrade.

“Just being at the Olympic Games is always special, and now we have one in Europe as well,” said Beck. “I’m hoping for the best day of my life, because I will give everything in the race, like I do in training, and hope I’ll be happy with the result.”

Beck will be joined by Ana Cunha, the Tokyo champion who in May won her first international title since July 2022 at the World Aquatics Open Water World Cup in Sardinia. The Brazilian underwent shoulder surgery towards the end of 2022 and spent a lot of time away from competition as a result.

Sharon van Rouwendaal won gold at Rio 2016 followed by silver three years ago in Japan and always showcases her consistent quality regardless of the environment in which the race is staged.

The pair will be joined by Maria de Valdes and Angelica Andre – silver and bronze medallists respectively behind Van Rouwendaal in Doha – plus Australian pair Moesha Johnson and Chelsea Gubeck

Olivier In Home Waters

Marc-Antoine Olivier would write a unique line in the history books if he was to become the first athlete to win open water gold in home waters.

The Frenchman won bronze at Rio 2016 behind Ferry Weertman and Spyridon Gianniotis before finishing sixth five years later in Tokyo in the hot water of Odaiba Marine Park.

Olivier booked his Paris spot by finishing second behind Kristof Rasovszky at the 2024 Doha worlds which he followed up with silver at the European Aquatics Championships in Belgrade as Gregorio Paltrinieri won gold.

Olivier though has sights set on making the podium, saying: “It’s a big dream to win a medal at the Olympic Games. Hopefully, I have a lot of advantage with my country behind me, so I’m sure I’ll have more energy to finish the race.”

He’ll join 30 other athletes when the men’s race gets underway on Friday morning with the strength of the current in the River Seine a concern on top of the water quality.

The field will do six laps of a 1.6k circuit which seems them swim with the current one way and against it on the way back.

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