PARIS—Earlier today, World Aquatics made the decision to cancel the 6 August Marathon Swimming familiarisation due to water quality concerns.  The athlete training session was due to take place from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m., but following a 4:00 a.m. coordination meeting, the decision was taken by the governing body in collaboration with Paris 2024.

The water quality review showed E. coli levels ranged from 326 to 517 (considered “very good” to “good”) at the four collection points taken on 5 August between 5:00 and 6:00 a.m.

However, Enterococci levels exceeded World Aquatics maximum thresholds during the morning review. The latest Enterococci samples (taken between 12:30 and 13:20 on 4 August) showed levels exceeding the maximum acceptable World Aquatics thresholds.

Laboratory analysis of the Seine’s Enterococci levels for 5 August was available at 11:00 a.m. today. These most recent Enterococci results demonstrate an improvement in the Seine’s water quality, but one of the four tests still did not meet acceptable World Aquatics water quality standards.

A second familiarisation swimming session at the Pont Alexandre III competition venue is scheduled for 7 August from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. A water quality review session will be held at 4:00 a.m. on 7 August, where World Aquatics will decide whether the familiarisation session for 7 August can be held.

With a favourable weather forecast and forward-looking analysis, World Aquatics and Paris 2024 remain confident that the Marathon Swimming competitions on 8 and 9 August will proceed as planned.

World Aquatics decisions on water quality for the Marathon Swimming events at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games are made in consultation with World Aquatics Technical Delegates, World Aquatics Medical Delegates, Paris 2024 Organising Committee, Météo France, DRIEAT, the City of Paris, and the Prefecture of the Île-de-France Region which carried out the water quality tests.