Olympics-Swimming-Women's marathon swimming to go ahead, water quality meets thresholds

By Ian Ransom

PARIS (Reuters) -The Olympic women's 10km marathon swimming event will go ahead as scheduled on Thursday at 7:30 a.m. (0530 GMT) in the Seine river after water quality tests met thresholds, Paris Games organisers said.

Games organisers and World Aquatics said the latest tests from the Seine had been assessed as compliant.

"World Aquatics have confirmed that the women’s marathon swimming will go ahead as planned on 8 August at 7.30AM," the governing body said on Thursday in a statement with Paris 2024 organisers.

A meeting was held early on Thursday, attended by representatives from World Aquatics, Paris Games organisers and other stakeholders involved in carrying out tests of the water.

Both the women's race on Thursday and the men's on Friday feature a 1.67km loop completed six times between the Alexandre III bridge and Pont de l'Alma on the river flowing through the French capital.

A familiarisation session for the marathon swimming went ahead on Wednesday after being cancelled on Tuesday due to concerns over water pollution.

French authorities have spent 1.4 billion euros ($1.5 billion) on upgrading the city's sewage systems, promising the river will be clean for residents to swim in by next summer.

However, water quality issues proved a headache for organisers during the triathlon events, with familiarisation sessions cancelled and the men's race postponed by 24 hours.

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(Reporting by Ian Ransom; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Tom Hogue)