As the Paris Olympics ended, the Seine river claimed one more victim of whatever lies in its murky depths.
Irish swimmer Daniel Wiffen, who had been scheduled to be the flag-bearer at the closing ceremonies of the Paris Games, said that a viral infection laid him low, forcing him to miss the ceremonies.
Wiffen had competed Friday in the men’s 10K swim, which was held in the long-polluted Seine.
“Thanks everyone who reached out, I’m incredibly disappointed to miss out on the opportunity to be flag bearer last night,” Wiffen wrote on X.
Thanks everyone who reached out, I’m incredibly disappointed to miss out on the opportunity to be flag bearer last night.
Yesterday I rushed to hospital as I was very unwell with a bug that I am being treated for, and am feeling better now. I hope everyone enjoys the evening…
— Daniel Wiffen (@WiffenDaniel) August 12, 2024
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“Yesterday I rushed to hospital as I was very unwell with a bug that I am being treated for, and am feeling better now. I hope everyone enjoys the evening and I hope to be well enough to seeing everyone when we get home,” he wrote.
Davey Jones, a professor of environmental science and public health at Bangor University, said testing the Seine for the presence of E. coli bacteria was only part of what needed to be done, according to the BBC.
“Evidence suggests a lot of us get sick in water from viruses, and viruses behave very differently from E. coli. So if you just measure E. coli it provides no information whatsoever on the risk of viruses,” he said.
Should the Olympic Committee apologize to swimmers made to compete in the Seine River?
“I would never have selected the Seine,” the stunned professor added.
“I know it’s iconic, but it also runs through a hugely urbanised area which is always a recipe for disaster when it comes to potential exposure to chemicals or biological pathogens,” Jones continued.
Austrian swimmer Felix Auböck said swimmers knew there was a risk.
“I think if anyone’s saying they’re not concerned at all, they’re probably lying. I am concerned. I just hope and trust the organisation in the sense that they let us in when it’s safe enough to do so. No one wants to get ill,” he said, according to Time.
Bad planning? Health crisis for athletes who took part of the 10km swim in the Seine has been another huge issue from the Olympics is Paris.#SportEntertainment2024@ChrisYorkePhD @j_richo1990
— Tony Habib (@ThePremiersSC) August 13, 2024
As noted by The Times, whenever it rains, the sewers of Paris are overwhelmed, leading to raw sewage flowing into the Seine.
A massive project was designed to clean up the river, but multiple swimmers in the Games were taken sick.
Belgian triathlete Claire Michel was hospitalized with E. coli after her race. Swiss triathletes Adrien Briffod and Simon Westermann were sick with infections and had to withdraw. Norwegian swimmer Vetle Bergsvik Thor also suffered a stomach ailment.
Swedish swimmer Victor Johansson pulled out of the 10k swim due to the quality of the Seine.
“After we have weighed their recommendation with all the risks that exist, it felt like the best decision is to drop out. Therefore, it has now been decided that I will not swim,” Johansson told a Swedish media outlet, according to SwimSwam.
“There is a lot of information that has been flying around, but what we know for sure is that people have become ill. So even though the levels (intestinal bacteria e-coli) have gone down, it didn’t feel good to start,” he said.
