Paris 2024 Olympics: Marathon swimming familiarisation session to go ahead on Wednesday

A similar session planned for Tuesday had been cancelled due to concerns over water pollution.

REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE: Familiarisation session for the Paris Olympics marathon swimming event in the Seine river will go ahead as planned on Wednesday. | Photo Credit: REUTERS

The familiarisation session for the Paris Olympics marathon swimming event in the Seine river will go ahead as scheduled on Wednesday after water quality tests met thresholds, organisers said.

A similar session planned for Tuesday had been cancelled due to concerns over water pollution.

A meeting was held on water quality early on Wednesday and attended by representatives from World Aquatics, Paris Games organisers and other stakeholders involved in carrying out the tests.

“The results ... reviewed during the meeting at 4 a.m. have been assessed as compliant by World Aquatics, allowing for the familiarisation session for the marathon swimming to take place,” World Aquatics said in a statement.

The familiarisation session will take place from 7.30-9.30 a.m. The women’s and men’s marathon swim races are scheduled for Thursday and Friday.

French authorities have spent 1.4 billion euros (1.53 billion USD) on upgrading the city’s sewage systems, promising the river will be clean for residents to swim in by next summer.

However, water quality issues proved a headache for organisers during the triathlon events, with familiarisation sessions cancelled and the men’s race postponed by 24 hours.