AAfter months of uncertainty and cancelled training sessions, the marathon swimmers jumped into the Seine under the Pont Alexandre III on a sunny morning on August 8th.
Two days before the race, a training session designed to help swimmers familiarise themselves with the 1.67km course, which they were scheduled to swim six times, was cancelled due to unsafe levels of enterococci bacteria. The decision was made by World Aquatics, the sport organiser, and Paris 2024 officials. Enterococci are linked to fecal contamination.
Training was postponed and took place the day before the race. Most swimmers took advantage of this opportunity, but had to balance the risk of getting sick just before the main race with the chance to develop strategies to follow the best line in the water to maximize speed and conserve energy in the 10k race. “Our first training session was canceled, and the second time around we didn’t want to spend too much time here and risk getting sick before the race,” said Katie Grimes of the USA, who finished 15th.th Place. “Well, I really haven’t spent much time here before.”
Most marathon swimming events take place in lakes, bays or the sea. The river’s location meant that swimmers had to deal with another variable: the current. The first part of the lap took swimmers from the Pont Alexandre III, which connects the famous Champs-Elysees area to the Eiffel Tower, under the Pont des Invalides before turning at the Pont de l’Alma. They followed the current of the river, which can flow at 3.2 to 4.8 km/h, while swimmers battled against it in the second half of the lap.
Training sessions are important for open water competitions, especially in rivers. In the Seine, swimmers tried to swim as close to the river bank as possible, even though some stretches contained vines that brushed against their arms with each stroke.
“That was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, and the current — that’s something I’ve never done before,” said Grimes, who also competed in the pool and won silver in the 400-meter individual medley. “That required a completely different mindset before the race (because) everything changed throughout the race.”
Experience in navigating currents and taking advantage of the lift they can provide helped Dutchwoman Sharon Van Rouwendaal, who also won the event at the 2016 Olympics and took silver at the Tokyo Games, to first place in Paris. Silver medalist Moesha Johnson of Australia, who trains with Van Roudenwaal, took the lead with a fast start and then maintained that advantage through the third and most of the fifth lap, but was eventually overtaken by Van Rouwendaal in the second half of the fifth lap. Italy’s Ginevra Taddeucci, who finished 22nd at the 2024 World Championships, surprisingly won the bronze medal after keeping up with Van Rouwendaal and Johnson throughout the six laps.
“The current was a big, big challenge,” Johnson said. “And it really changed the way you had to sit in the pack – there was no real pack. I definitely got to the front earlier than planned.”
Not being able to train directly on the Seine made strategizing for the race more challenging, said Mariah Denigan, Grimes’ U.S. teammate who finished 16th.th“We usually do more swimming beforehand and I think it would have definitely helped me a bit if I had had more experience swimming against the current.”
And it wasn’t just the current that had to worry her. “It was really hard because we couldn’t really concentrate on the race,” said Bettina Fabian of Hungary, who finished fifth. “We had to pay attention to the (water) quality and what would happen afterward. We (had to) concentrate on not swallowing water and being safe (in the race). I saw some brown things; I hope it’s not what I thought. I’m worried, but I brought Hungarian palinka (fruit brandy) with me, so I hope I don’t get sick after (the race).”
Taddeucci shared the worry that distracts marathon swimmers, especially after participating in the training session the day before the race. “Obviously, I’ve swum in better places,” she said. “I was just concerned about not getting sick, but it was OK.”
The triathlon was also held in the river during the first week of the Paris Games, and the Belgian team withdrew from the mixed relay after one of its athletes, Claire Michel, reportedly fell ill and had to be hospitalized, the Belgian newspaper reported. The standardalthough neither World Triathlon nor Olympic officials could confirm the cause of her illness. The men’s triathlon was postponed for a day due to unsafe conditions.
Why is there uncertainty about water quality? Experts say the level of bacteria, especially E. coli and enterococci, varies depending on the amount of rainfall and the amount of sunlight. When it rains heavily, the excess water overwhelms the sewage treatment plants and the overflow water seeps into the Seine. Ultraviolet light can help kill some bacteria.
In the lead-up to the women’s swim marathon, dry, sunny days ensured that water levels were safe enough to conduct the training run on Aug. 7 and the race the following day. But it will be another day or so before swimmers know if the water was truly safe. “I took a lot of water, so I hope I’m OK,” Grimes said.
