the Seine takes the stage for the open water event
The test event of the 10km open water Olympic race of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will take place on August 5 and 6 in the Seine. The International Swimming Federation (FINA) formalized this Thursday the calendar of the world circuit which will therefore stop in the capital next August.
The event will take place for the first time in the Seine. The last competition organized in the waters of the river in the capital dates back to 2012 with the swimming event of the Paris triathlon. Contests have since been banned due to water quality.
This test event should model its course on that of the Paris 2024 Olympics a year later. With a departure from the Alexandre III bridge. The swimmers will complete a loop of approximately 1.6 km taking the direction of the Eiffel Tower with a U-turn at the Pont d’Iéna. “We are happy that it is in the Seine, assures the Olympic bronze medalist in the 10km in 2016, Marc-Antoine Olivier. Already last summer for the return of the World Cup in Paris we wanted it to be in the Seine but there were no authorizations. It will be nice to discover the course and see what will await us for the Olympic Games.
No apprehension to swim in the Seine
The double world champion assures that “there is no fear of swimming in the Seine. What will be the most complicated is the current which will be very variable depending on the day I think. The date of the test event is very good because it will be in the wake of the world championships and I think there will be everyone. It should be a good race with a high level.”
The waters of the capital will be busy this month of August since the test event of the triathlon, with there also the swimming event in the Seine, will be organized from August 17 to 20.