Paris Olympics sets up backup site for marathon swimming

PARIS -- The Olympic marathon swimming event could take place just outside Paris should the River Seine not be suitable for competition, organizers said Friday.

"The rules of World Triathlon allow, as a final resort, for the competition to be held in a duathlon format. On the other hand, in order to guarantee that marathon swimming events could still be held if all other contingency plans were exhausted, we have initiated a fallback plan based on the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium," a Paris 2024 spokesperson told Reuters. "The competition site, already used for rowing and canoeing events, has all the necessary features to host these events if required."

The quality of the Seine water has improved, data showed Thursday, three weeks before the Olympics.

Data published by the city and regional authorities showed the concentrations of enterococci and E. coli bacteria were below legal thresholds six out of nine days between June 24 and July 2.

The levels depend on rainfall and water temperature among other factors. With decent weather this week in Paris, the quality of the water is expected to remain good.

The French capital has been working on cleaning up the Seine so people can swim in it again, as was the case during the 1900 Paris Olympics. But a sewer problem last summer led to the cancellation of a pre-Olympics swimming event.

The swimming leg of the triathlon and the marathon swimming event of the Olympics, which run from July 26 to Aug. 11, are scheduled to be held in the Seine.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, who championed a campaign to clean up the once infamously dirty river in time for the Olympics, last month postponed her planned dip in the Seine. She said then it was likely to happen after the French snap elections, whose second round is due to take place Sunday, and after the annual July 14 Bastille Day celebrations.

"We have every confidence in the work undertaken by the state, the city of Paris and all the parties involved to make the Seine swimmable so that the events can take place there as planned," the spokesperson said.