(Reuters) – The familiarisation session for the Paris Olympics marathon swimming event in the Seine river will go ahead as scheduled on Wednesday after water quality tests met thresholds, organisers said.
A similar session planned for Tuesday had been cancelled due to concerns over water pollution.
A meeting was held on water quality early on Wednesday and attended by representatives from World Aquatics, Paris Games organisers and other stakeholders involved in carrying out the tests.
“The results … reviewed during the meeting at 4 a.m. have been assessed as compliant by World Aquatics, allowing for the familiarisation session for the marathon swimming to take place,” World Aquatics said in a statement.
The familiarisation session will take place from 7.30-9.30 a.m. The women’s and men’s marathon swim races are scheduled for Thursday and Friday.
French authorities have spent 1.4 billion euros ($1.53 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 Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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