Water quality has become a hot topic in the world of triathlon following the issues that arose at WTCS Sunderland.
Across the weekend in Sunderland, over a hundred athletes reported falling ill and it later emerged that the E.coli levels at Roker Beach had been unacceptably high. World Triathlon issued a communication to the athletes that stated the high readings were not relevant to the WTCS event. Nevertheless, the widespread bouts of sickness that followed indicated that something was amiss.
Shortly after, the Open Water Swimming World Cup in Paris was cancelled due to water quality issues in the Seine. Heavy rainfall had caused the water level to rise, allowing sewage to leak into it. In turn, that saw a spike in E.coli and other attendant quality issues.
With triathlon’s Olympic Test Event due to take place within a fortnight, the news of the Open Water World Cup was a major cause for concern.
World Triathlon have now disclosed the latest water quality readings on the course of the Test Event. The full breakdown of the readings can be found in the race briefing here.
At 08:00 on 14th August, World Triathlon reported 613 colonies per 100ml of Escherichia coli (E.coli) at Pont Alexandre III, where the swim start and transition is hosted. For context, the highest E.coli reading reported by World Triathlon at WTCS Sunderland was 220. It should also be noted that the UK Environment Agency took an E.coli reading of 3900 at Roker Beach.
As a result, the water quality at Pont Alexandre III has been graded as “Good” as opposed to “Very Good”.
The other three E.coli readings on the Test Event course came in at 308, 435 and 365.
With regards to the Enterococci levels, World Triathlon reported a peak reading of 99. The highest reading they reported at WTCS Sunderland was 62.
These numbers do not necessarily mean that the water is unsafe. That is important to make clear.
At the same, World Triathlon seem to have taken the lessons of Sunderland onboard and are monitoring the situation.
Daily situation meetings are being held with World Triathlon and the public health authorities and the swim familiarization remained pencilled in to take place this morning in the Seine.
Should the water quality data dictate a need for a chance, World Triathlon noted that “a decision will be taken on the format of the event”. Put simply, if the water quality is not safe, the Test Event will be held as a duathlon.
This could have knock-on effects for athletes pursuing Olympic qualification. If the race is a duathlon, some countries might not recognise the race for selection purposes as it will be fundamentally different to a triathlon.
However, athlete safety is paramount. A final decision will likely come tomorrow, although based on the current readings there may be an element of risk at play in swimming in the Seine.
