For the second day in a row, swimming training for the Paris Olympic triathlon was canceled. Despite a €1.4 billion initiative to clean up the Seine in preparation for the Olympics, dangerous levels of E. coli and other bacterias have still been found in the infamously polluted river.

As early as the sixteenth century, the Seine has been subject to pollution. Dead bodies, garbage, and waste have all been dumped into the historic river. Before the first sewer system in Paris was created in 1833, water contamination resulted in a cholera epidemic that killed thousands of French citizens. Even with the sewage system, waste is still pumped into the Seine with little to no treatment at all, causing the Seine to become a cesspool of dangerous bacterias. Transport became the main function of the Seine in the following years, only adding to the pollution of the river. Swimming in the Seine was banned in 1923 due to the dangers of boat activity and water pollution.

Starting in 2015, France took measures to try and clear some of the pollution that had ravaged the quality of the Seine. One way France attempted to alleviate bacteria levels in the river was by building a gargantuan reservoir in Paris to collect dirty rainwater and treat it, rather than draining directly into the Seine. It has had some positive effect; France has reported increased levels of wildlife in the Seine, and test races in 2023 proved that E. coli levels were at an acceptable level.

In an effort to promote the safety of the river, Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo actually took a dip in the river to prove its cleanliness on July 17. However, since the Olympics have started Eau De Paris, the water supply and waste company of Paris, has declared the water unfit for swimming activity. E. coli levels were deemed above the safe limit of 900 colony-forming units per 100 milliliters.

With triathletes now settled into Olympic Village, the issue is still not resolved. For two straight days, the Olympic committee has had to postpone any swimming practice in the Seine. Both the men’s and women’s races have now been moved to July 31, in hopes that sunny weather will help lower the bacteria quantity. A duathlon, meaning a biking and running race only, has been proposed if the safety levels are not met in time.

In a news conference Sunday, American triathlete Taylor Spivey said, “Hopefully we get to swim, bike and run because I don’t swim this much to just run and bike.”

With the clock ticking, only time will tell if Paris’s exhaustive but last minute efforts will suffice in allowing the 110 total triathletes a chance to compete in a full, safe race.