Belgian Olympic triathlete hopes she not sick after swimming the Seine: ‘Saw things we shouldn’t think about’

The waters of the Seine may have been deemed “safe” to swim in, but some Olympians are still not happy.

Water purity has been an ongoing concern, as unacceptably high levels of E. Coli caused by wastewater flowing into the Seine delayed practices and even the men’s swimming leg of the triathlon event by a full day.

Side effects of consuming the polluted water include diarrhea, stomach cramping, and vomiting, and may set in over hours or even the next few days. While testing finally revealed the water was “safe” to swim in on Wednesday, many athletes spoke out about their experience and most had nothing nice to say.

“While swimming under the bridge, I felt and saw things that we shouldn’t think about too much,” Belgium’s Jolien Vermeylen said after her swim. “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.”

China’s Xinyu Lin cheered “I’m not [dead]!”

Verena Steinhauser from Italy said “Let’s see tonight,” regarding the potential onset of side effects. “I hope I will be OK. But I am a little bit nervous.”

Cassandre Beaugrand from France was more confident, having experience swimming in the Seine.

“I was not worried about the Seine river, because we swam last year and no one was sick after that,” she said, mentioning the 2023 test swim. “I was confident we could swim today, and that would have been a shame if we didn’t.”

American Olympian Seth Rider had previously joked that he had spent time building his immunity against E. Coli at home in preparation for the games. While reiterating that his remarks were humorous in nature, he did express concern after ingesting some of the water.

“Hopefully I can handle some E. coli because I think I swallowed so much water out there. Probably everyone did,” he noted.

Beaugrand brought home the gold medal for the hosting country of France, completing the event in 1 hour, 50 minutes, 7 seconds. Julie Derron from Switzerland took silver, and Beth Potter from Great Britain was awarded the bronze.

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