“Here we are!… Thanks to a massive investment, we have achieved in just 4 years what was impossible for 100 years: the Seine is now swimmable,” French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on X. The president’s tweet came after the successful conclusion of the triathlons, which saw athletes swim in the Seine on July 31st. However, not everything may be as perfect as it seems.

Things looked grim when rain deluged the capital city, overwhelming the $1.5 billion revamped sewage system. Tests carried out on Tuesday revealed unsafe levels of E. coli. So, the jubilation of French authorities was understandable when everything finally fell into place on Wednesday. However, a handful of athletes asserted that there are issues the Paris 2024 organizers have swept under the rug.

Jolien Vermeylen from Belgium thought the authorities cared more about portraying Wednesday’s event as a win for their efforts. “As I swam under the bridge, I felt and saw things that we shouldn’t think too much about. The Seine has been dirty for a hundred years, so they can’t say that the safety of athletes is a priority. It’s bulls**t,” Vermeylen said in a press conference.

However, she wasn’t the only one to make such a statement. Vermeylen’s fellow Belgian athlete Marten Van Riel said he felt like a “puppet” in a show about the Seine’s transformation. He also found Paris 2024 competitor director Aurelie Merle’s actions highly disrespectful. Merle was adamant that the cleanup efforts would pay off and, at one point, even considered changing the triathlon into a duathlon. would pay off and, at one point, even considered changing the triathlon into a duathlon.

It’s difficult to dismiss Van Riel’s argument, as government officials and organizers mainly talked about the success of the cleaning efforts. Pierre Rabadan, the Deputy Mayor of Paris, expressed his confidence in the efforts to clean up the river. “It was not a bet actually; it was planned, and so we knew it would work,” Rabadan said in an exclusive interview with Essentially Sports. Yet, despite the assurance of the organizers, an incident had sparked controversy even before the Belgians’ explosive claims.

Did the waters of the Seine make an athlete vomit?

As France’s own Cassandre Beaugrand celebrated her triumph in the event, one athlete drew attention. Everyone in attendance saw the triathlete vomit moments after swimming in the river. Although no further news about the incident surfaced, it got sports fans on the internet talking. Many suspected the water quality was at fault, while others blamed exhaustion.

However, the Paris 2024 organizers had good reason to be adamant about holding events in the Seine. IOC sports director Kit McConnell vouched for the significant improvements to water quality after the long-standing multibillion-dollar effort. In fact, if it wasn’t for the unforeseen rainfall, the water quality wouldn’t have declined sharply, causing delays.

There is little doubt that cleaning up a century of pollution in four years is a truly Herculean task. It’s also commendable that the French government plans to continue these efforts, giving Parisians access to the river by 2025. However, the concerns raised by Jolien Vermeylen and Marten Van Riel shouldn’t be dismissed either.