Olympic triathlete who fell ill after swim in Seine says virus made her sick, not E. coli
Open water swimmers train for upcoming 10k races amid water quality concerns
A Belgian triathlete who fell ill, causing her team to withdraw from the mixed relay event at the Paris Olympics, said blood tests showed it was a virus that made her sick.
Belgium's Olympic committee announced Sunday that it would withdraw its team from Monday's triathlon mixed relay because Claire Michel was unable to compete. Michel had raced a few days earlier in the women's triathlon, which included a swim in the Seine River.
Michel was one of several triathletes who got sick after swimming in the Seine, though it was not clear if the water was to blame.
Bacteria levels in the long-polluted river have been in flux during the Games, causing test swims ahead of the triathlon events to be cancelled and the men's triathlon to be delayed by a day. Organizers had said that water quality tests done the day of the individual triathlon races showed "very good" levels of fecal bacteria E. coli and enterococci.
Some news outlets had reported that Michel had been sickened by E. coli and spent several days in the hospital. In an Instagram post Tuesday, she wrote that there had been "a lot of conflicting information in the media lately" and that she wanted to "clarify a few things."
It was not E. coli that made her sick, she wrote, adding that she sought treatment at a clinic in the Olympic Village on Sunday after several days of vomiting and diarrhea "left me quite empty."
She thanked people for get-well messages and said her "heart goes out first and foremost" to her relay teammates, "who also lost out on another chance to race."
The Portuguese Olympic Committee said in a statement Wednesday that triathlete Vasco Vilaca had developed "symptoms compatible with gastrointestinal infection." He was being treated by the committee's medical team in the Olympic Village. A second Portuguese triathlete, Melanie Santos, developed similar but less severe symptoms, the statement said.
Despite assurances from World Triathlon that bacteria levels in the river were within acceptable levels on the days when triathletes swam in the Seine, the risk of infection remained given the environmental context, the Portuguese statement said.
Daily water-quality tests measure levels of the fecal bacteria, including E. coli. World Triathlon's water safety guidelines and a 2006 European Union directive assign qualitative values to a range of E. coli levels. Under World Triathlon's guidelines, E. coli levels up to 1,000 colony-forming units per 100 millilitres can be considered "good" and can allow competitions to go forward.
World Triathlon said the bacteria levels last week when the individual triathlon events were held were considered "very good" and that the levels were also within acceptable limits during Monday's triathlon mixed relay event.
Vetle Bergsvik Thorn of Norway, who competed in both the individual and relay events, also became sick. He said after Monday's race that he had a bad stomach illness for about 12 hours but said "it's hard to say if it's the river or just some ordinary food poisoning."
WATCH l Olympic triathletes dive into Seine as water finally deemed safe:
Swedish triathlete Tilda Månsson got sick on Saturday, three days after competing in the women's triathlon, Swedish Olympic Committee spokesman Lars Markusson has said.
Swiss officials announced Saturday that triathlete Adrien Briffod, who also had competed in the Seine on Wednesday, would not compete Monday after falling ill with a stomach infection. On Sunday, they announced that Simon Westermann, who had been tapped to replace Briffod, also had to withdraw because of a gastrointestinal infection. Westermann had not participated in any swims in the Seine.
Open water events still to come
A hearty group of endurance swimmers dove into the waterway on a cloudy, cool morning Wednesday, their one and only chance to check out the river before they start handing out gold medals.
The training session received the go-ahead around 4 a.m., when World Aquatics got the results of daily testing that showed the water was within acceptable guidelines for illness-causing bacteria — one day after another test run was cancelled because of less-favourable readings.
From 2016 Olympic champion Sharon van Rouwendaal of the Netherlands to Irish star Daniel Wiffen, competing in open water for the first time, it appeared that most competitors took advantage of the chance to swim the actual 1.67-kilometre course through the centre of the French capital after doing most of their training in the pool.
The women's 10k marathon race will be held Thursday, followed by the men's race on Friday.
"I was very happy that we could train today," van Rouwendaal told The Associated Press, wrapped in a towel shortly after coming out of the chilly water. "We could see how the course is and where to swim and feel the current a little bit."
Before diving in, Austrian swimmers Felix Auboeck and Jan Hercog scouted the conditions from the Pont Alexandre III, the famed bridge that overlooks the starting buoy and finishing chute.
"I think if anyone's saying they're not concerned at all, they're probably lying," Auboeck said. "I am concerned. I just hope and trust the organization in the sense that they will let us in only when it's safe enough to do so. But, of course, you're concerned because no one wants to get ill."
Auboeck can certainly see the appeal of holding open water in the Seine, the river that slices through one of the world's most picturesque cities.
"It is super exciting that this is scenery where we are racing," he said, looking toward the Eiffel Tower. "That's probably the best thing we can do for the sport."
World Aquatics cancelled a test run Tuesday because of concerns over fluctuating bacteria levels in the waterway. Despite massive efforts to clear the Seine, water quality has been a constant concern throughout the Games.
WATCH l Flushing the Seine of fecal bacteria before Olympic athletes dive in:
But officials expressed confidence that both open water races will be held without any issues, especially with the skies turning sunny in the afternoon and little chance of rain in the forecast.
"We have done the tests with the water quality and I know that's really taken care of. It's not just the results we want to have. It's the real results," said Britta Kamrau, a former open water world champion from Germany who now serves on the technical committee for World Aquatics. "I'm not afraid that the athletes will get sick."
Though, she was quick to add, the very nature of the sport — which is held in lakes, oceans and rivers around the world — always raises concerns about the quality of the water.
"After all, it's open water swimming," Kamrau said. "You never have clean water like in the pool."
'You're a little bit like a pawn'
Hungary's David Betlehem said he wasn't going in the river until the actual event and criticized organizers for pressing ahead with their plans despite the potential health risks.
"The athletes, we have no choice. You're a little bit like a pawn," Betlehem told the AP. "If we want to change things, we need all the athletes to say no, we don't want to swim there. But there are some athletes who say, `OK, maybe we can do it."'
This is the first time that Olympic open water, which was introduced at the 2008 Beijing Games, is being held in a river.
Previous competition were held in the Beijing rowing basin, the Serpentine Lake in London's Hyde Park, the ocean in Rio, and Tokyo Bay.
There's a backup plan in place if the Seine was determined to be unsafe for the open water event. The races would be shifted to Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium, site of the rowing and canoeing events.
The Seine open water course comprises a longer portion of the river that the triathlon events, starting and finishing at Pont Alexandre III. Each race is six laps.