the three triathlon races at the Olympics have been shrouded in uncertainty ever since last August’s Paris Test Event saw the Mixed Team Relay downgraded to a duathlon format (run / bike / run) because of the water quality. The same happened to races at the Paralympics Test Event.
For the last few months regular water tests have produced mixed results, underlined in the last few days when the two planned swim familiarisation sessions on Sunday and Monday were both cancelled because the readings were over the allowed limits.
That followed heavy rain in Paris for the opening ceremony on Friday and then the first day of competition proper on Saturday which not only increased pollution but also the speed of the current.
Organisers had pinned their hopes on improved weather since Saturday and while that has appeared – it was dry and sunny on both Sunday and Monday – unfortunately that hasn’t yet improved the situation sufficiently.
The new concern with Wednesday in mind will be a yellow thunderstorm warning which is in place for Paris later on Tuesday.
A massive €1.4bn (£1.18bn or $1.5bn) has been spent on cleaning up the iconic Seine in the hope of making it swimmable for the general public for the first time in a century.
That would leave an incredibly powerful legacy from the Games but as far as the triathlon swim is concerned, it remains very much in the balance this week – something triathlon great Mark Allen spoke eloquently about here on TRI247 last month.
And speaking to TRI247 from Paris soon after today’s news broke, he reiterated that when he said: “An alternate venue was put in place to be able to hold the marathon swim events if the water quality doesn’t co-operate in the Seine. Those will take place at the rowing and canoeing venue. Why was this not Plan B for triathlons as well?
“It’s a huge disappointment that the solution for poor water quality is to completely change the sport and [potentially] make it a duathlon.
“I know tomorrow is another day and that both the men’s and the women’s individual events might still take place. But ultimately from my perspective there is a better solution that what is presently in place.”
The revised schedule now means the women’s race will take place first on Wednesday at 8am local time. That is 0700 in the
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