Bad news for the Paris 2024 OCOG. The French Swimming Federation (FFN) announced in a press release on Thursday August 3 that the training session for the open water World Cup leg, scheduled for this Friday morning in the Seine, had been cancelled. The competition stamped World Aquatics is to serve as a test event for open water swimming at the Paris 2024 Games. “Following recent heavy rainfall in Paris, the quality of the water in the Seine is currently below acceptable standards for safeguarding the health of swimmers,” explains the FFN. At this stage, only training has been cancelled. The competition, scheduled for Saturday August 5 and Sunday August 6, will still take place between Pont Alexandre III and Pont de l’Alma. However, the FFN specifies that new water quality tests will be carried out before a decision is taken. “An update concerning the competition calendar is expected at 5:00 p.m.” this Friday, August 4, announces the FFN. The French capital has been experiencing a summer of contrasts, with the heatwave of July giving way to autumn weather since the start of the week, with heavy daily rainfall. “With one year to go before the Games, the sanitation drive is continuing, with the most significant water quality improvement works scheduled for completion in the coming months, in particular to cope with these exceptional meteorological events,” reacted the COJO, Paris City Hall and the Ile-de-France region prefecture in a joint press release. Another test event, the triathlon, is scheduled to take place from August 17 to 20, with the swimming part contested in the Seine.
