Belgian triathlete Jolien Vermeylen has opened up on what it really was like to swim in the River Seine.
The men’s triathlon final had to be postponed by a day this week after there was high levels of pollution in the water after heavy rainfall on Friday.
Both the men’s and women’s triathlons eventually went ahead on Wednesday but one participant has complained about the conditions.
THE SEINE TRIATHLON FIASCO, ATHLETES SICK#PARIS2024 #OLYMPIC2024 pic.twitter.com/adiDrPhZRf
— Filipe Neves 🇵🇹 🇵🇸 (@_FilipeNeves) July 31, 2024
Speaking to VTM, Belgium’s Vermeylen, after placing 24th said: “I drank a lot of water, so we’ll know tomorrow if I’m sick or not.
“It doesn’t taste like Coca-Cola or Sprite, of course.
“While swimming under the bridge, I felt and saw things that we shouldn’t think about too much.
“The Seine has been dirty for a hundred years, so they can’t say that the safety of the athletes is a priority. That’s bulls***!”
She continued: “Now they just have to hope that there won’t be too many sick athletes. I took pro-biotics, I drank my Yakult, I couldn’t do more.
“I had the idea of not drinking water, but yes, it failed. Just like I had the idea of not falling but that failed too.”
The famous river has been closed off to the public for swimming for 100 years due to it being deemed unsafe to swim in but the French have spent a staggering £1.2 billion to get it cleaned for the games.
