PARIS — Swedish marathon swimmer Victor Johansson has pulled out of the Olympic men’s 10km event scheduled for Friday citing concerns about the water quality of the Seine river, Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter reported.
Johansson told the paper triathletes had fallen sick after swimming in the urban river during the Olympic competition without providing specific names.
“There is a lot of information that has been flying around, but what we know for sure is that people have become ill,” the paper quoted him as saying. “So even though the levels (of E.coli bacteria) have gone down, it didn’t feel good to start.
“The triathletes were in the Seine for about 20 minutes, and despite the short time, some got sick,” Johansson added.
Swedish media reported that the nation’s triathlete Tilda Mansson fell sick and was vomiting a few days after competing in the women’s event on July 31, though the team did not confirm there was a connection with the Seine water.
“We have to be in the water for two hours,” said 25-year-old Johansson.
“You swallow anywhere from 0 to 250 milliliters (8.45 fluid ounces) of water per hour, so at worst I would have been able to come up from the Seine with half liter of water.”
Swedish Olympic Committee doctor Lykke Tamm said Johansson had dialog with the medical team which backed his decision not to swim.
“We fully support Victor’s decision not to participate,” Tamm said in a statement.
“After careful consideration of all the factors surrounding Victor, my recommendation is that he should not swim in the Seine as it stands now. Health is always most important.”
Reuters sought comment from swimming governing body World Aquatics. Paris Games organizers referred Reuters to World Aquatics.
The Netherlands’ Sharon van Rouwendaal won the women’s 10km event earlier on Thursday, saying she had swallowed some of the Seine water during her swim but was fine about an hour after the race.
The women’s event went ahead as scheduled after organizers said the water quality had met acceptable thresholds.
French authorities spent 1.4 billion euros ($1.5 billion) on upgrading the city’s sewage systems, promising the river would be clean for residents to swim in by next summer.
However, water quality issues proved a headache during the triathlon events, with familiarization sessions canceled and the men’s race postponed by 24 hours.
–Reuters, Special to Field Level Media
