Olympics-Marathon swimming-Familiarisation session to go ahead on Wednesday


FILE PHOTO: Paris 2024 Olympics - Triathlon - Mixed Relay - Paris, France - August 05, 2024. Athletes in action as they swim in the river Seine REUTERS/Albert Gea/File Photo

(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) 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.

($1 = 0.9161 euros)

(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)

Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel for breaking news alerts and key updates!

Next In Swimming

Injury behind Dhuha, KL’s young swimmer ready for second-half charge
Swimming-Olympic great Lochte joins Missouri State coaching staff
Swimming-American Walsh improves own 100m butterfly world record for third time in a year
Still making waves
Swimming-Finland joins hosting boycott over World Aquatics decision on Russia
Mike will make waves
Hoe Yean won’t splash incentive as he’s saving it for future
Swimming-Norway joins Poland in refusing to host Russians and Belarusians
Swimming-Peaty takes British 50m breaststroke title with sights set on LA 2028
Swimming-Peaty sees room for improvement after winning British 100m breastroke title

Others Also Read