Triathlete Throws Up 10 Times After ‘Swallowing a Lot of Water’ from Seine

Canadian triathlete Tyler Mislawchuk may have thrown up “10 times” after swimming in the Seine—but he says it had nothing to do with the poor water quality.

After the athlete went viral for throwing up after swimming in the Seine River during the men’s triathlon on July 31, the 29-year-old explained that he just “happened to swallow a lot of water during the race.”

“Nothing to do with the quality. My stomach was just extremely full, and so that ended up being a limiting factor for me in the race. You put that with one hour, 40 minutes of going as hard as you can, stuff’s going to happen.”

A triathlon is no easy feat, especially when competing with the best of the best. The event tests athletes with a grueling combination of swimming, cycling, and running. The overall Olympic triathlon distance is 51.5 km (32 miles). This includes a 1.5 km (0.93 mile) swim, 40 km (25 mile) cycle, and a 10 km (6.2 mile) run.

“At my last Olympics, there was the injury and with all the stuff that happened there were a lot of what-ifs. I had no what-ifs on the day. I went for it, it was absolutely everything,” Mislawchuk shared with Triathlon Magazine Canada after placing ninth in the men’s triathlon.

“I have no ‘what ifs’ on the day. I went for it, it was absolutely everything. I vomited 10 times after the race … it got hot in the last laps,” the Olympian continued, previously emphasizing how he wasn’t acclimated just yet to France’s summer weather compared to Canada’s cold temps.

But Tyler—who had to withdraw from the 2020 Tokyo Games due to an Achilles injury—did not have spectators convinced that the long-polluted river, which the city of Paris spent an estimated $1.5 billion to get Olympics-ready, didn’t contribute to the athlete’s vomiting. The men’s triathlon event was even delayed by a day due to unacceptable levels of E. coli and other bacteria in the water.

Belgian triathlete Jolien Vermeylen, who competed in the women’s race, shared her opinions on the decision to hold the race in the river—where swimming has largely been banned since 1923.

“While swimming under the bridge, I felt and saw things that we shouldn’t think about too much,” she told reporters. “The Seine has been dirty for a hundred years, so they can’t say that the safety of the athletes is a priority. That’s bulls**t!”

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo took a highly publicized dip—rescheduled twice—nine days before the opening ceremony in a bid to ease fears. Hidalgo’s initial plan to swim on June 23 was postponed because of the level of the river and the bacteria in it. The swim was then rescheduled to June 30, which ended up not happening because of snap parliamentary elections in France.