With their two children and two dogs, Michael and Sarah Bundy arrived early in the morning by train from Rouen to Paris to take part in the Olympic triathlon. But on Tuesday morning they stood on the Pont des Invalides and looked out over an empty Seine. The match had been postponed: the water in the river was too dirty.
The French government spent almost 1.5 billion euros to clean up the waters of the Seine. A treatment plant was built upstream and many other measures were taken.
About the Author
Erik van Lakerveld is a sports journalist from of Volkskrant and writes mainly about Olympic sports such as skating, athletics and rowing.
Just before the Games, the river was so clean that French Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo took a dip. But now, with the Olympics in full swing, water quality is once again a headache.
Heavy rains
The problem is the heavy rains during the first days of the Olympic Games. When it rains excessively, wastewater overflows into the Seine and pathogenic fecal bacteria E. coli also reach the river.
After a wet start, Paris became dry and the water quality improved rapidly. It was expected that everything would be fine after 36 hours, but that turned out not to be the case. Therefore, it was decided to postpone the men’s race from Tuesday and hold it on Wednesday at a quarter to 11, immediately after the women’s race, which starts at 8 in the morning.
in the brown water
It is now quiet on the Pont Alexandre III, where the start and finish of the triathlon should be. Camera crews from Denmark, Australia, South Korea, Norway and Germany are filming the empty Seine.
One bridge further on, the Pont des Invalides, is quite busy. Around a hundred people stand looking out over the water as a rescue boat passes by. One of the men on board jumps into the brown water and swims under the bridge.
A large number of people are running from one side of the bridge to the other. “It’s just an exercise,” shouts a member of the rescue brigade.
A couple from the English town of Ledbury watch the swimmer with interest. They start talking to their neighbour, who also happens to speak English. Does he know when the triathletes will come?
They had no idea that the match had been postponed. No problem, they’ll come and have a look tomorrow. They weren’t special for the Paris triathlon, this afternoon they have tickets for table tennis.
Beautiful view
The decision to postpone the triathlon was announced at around 5 a.m. on Tuesday, just over three hours before the scheduled start. The Bundy family was informed that the race had been cancelled, but their train tickets were already booked, as were tickets to the panoramic terrace of the Tour Montparnasse, which offers a magnificent view of the city.
They are considering returning on Wednesday. That won’t be cheap. They just looked it up: four train tickets from Rouen cost 260 euros. Michael Bundy: “But we can cancel it.” Because it is not certain that the Seine will be clean enough on Wednesday, if only because the chance of thunderstorms in the hot French capital increases.
Day in Paris
Further on, a French family, all four dressed in T-shirts from their local triathlon club, made the hour-long drive from La Rochelle. On the way they saw on Facebook that the triathlon had been postponed. Now they spend a day in Paris. Back in the car a day later? Dad doesn’t like that. It’s a shame, but there’s nothing to be done about it.
If the competitions cannot be held on Wednesday, there is still an alternative option on the Olympic programme on Friday. If the water is still too dirty, the triathlon becomes a duathlon. The athletes will then start by running, then cycling and finishing by running again. Open water swimmers have an alternative to the rowing course if the water is still not good enough in the last week of the Games.
Marcel Wouda, the national coach of the Dutch triathletes, said in a brief message that he assumes that the competitions will be able to continue on Wednesday. And we decided not to worry about it. It is as it is.’
