The 2024 Paris Olympics have presented a unique and daunting challenge for the world’s top triathletes – competing in the notoriously polluted waters of the Seine River. Despite significant efforts to clean up the waterway ahead of the games, many athletes have voiced serious concerns about the water quality and the formidable currents they must navigate.

Team USA triathlete Taylor Spivey, who competed in the women’s individual event, expressed major concerns after swallowing “a ton of water” during her race. “I’ve taken a lot of probiotics over the past month. So we’ll see how it goes,” she said, alluding to the potential threat of waterborne illnesses like E. coli.

Spivey’s teammate, Seth Rider, who took part in the men’s individual triathlon, echoed similar sentiments. “Hopefully I can handle some E. coli. Because I swallowed so much water out there. Probably everyone did,” he stated matter-of-factly.

In addition to the water quality concerns, the Seine’s powerful currents posed a significant challenge for the triathletes. Spivey described the current as “insane” and “shocking,” fearing that officials might even stop the race or pull athletes out after one lap.

“That current – wow. I felt like I was on a treadmill in one place,” Spivey recalled. Her fellow competitors, including Belgium’s Jolien Vermeylen and Marten Van Riel, also highlighted the Seine’s formidable flow, with Vermeylen noting that at one point, “we swam past a boat and barely made any progress.”

Jolien Vermeylen competes in the women’s individual triathlon at the 2024 Paris Olympics on July 31, 2024 | Source: Getty Images

Despite the concerns raised by many athletes, French triathlete Cassandre Beaugrand, who won gold in the women’s event, expressed confidence in the Seine’s safety for swimmers. Beaugrand’s perspective aligns with the significant efforts being made to clean up the river ahead of the Olympics, with a $1.5 billion investment reported by the Associated Press in June 2024.