Paris’ Olympic Seine Disaster Puts Athletes’ Future at Odds With Political Brinkmanship

That organizers of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games still have not updated their stance that they have no Plan B for the open water swimming events, or the swimming portion of the triathlon events, at this summer’s main event, continues to push the event to the brink of disaster.

A Games that could have been spectacular in one of the world’s most spectacular cities will not be remembered for the incredible backdrops, innovative opening ceremonies, or iconic venues; instead, the lasting motif, like the packs of wild dogs in Sochi or the green pool in Rio, will be the image of organized French protesters pooping in the Seine.

History loves a meme moment, and while the protesters have postponed their poops to coincide with a (probably indefinite) postponement of the promised swims by Mayor Anne Hidalgo and President Emmanuel Macron, what the world will remember is the turds in the river.

I am sympathetic to the political perspective of continued insistence that “there is no Plan B”. France did not invest $1 billion into cleaning the Seine, which has been dirty for centuries, because of the brilliant backdrops of taking photos in the iconic heart of the city.

Rather, the photographs were supposed to be a turning-point, marking a momentous achievement of French government, opening one of the world’s great waterways to citizens and tourists alike.

Why is the Seine Dirty? Explained by Cincinnati Public Radio:

But they waited too long to tackle a problem that has been written by generations of generations. It was too little, too late, and a needed harmony of environmental factors (lots of sun and little rain) have so far not cooperated to allow the events to move forward, as planned, in the Seine.

As France has been thrown into the midst of a broader political crisis that could see the country go into the Olympics without a prime minister – being lauded in the press as yet another error in Macron’s timing.

And now the event is left three weeks away allegedly without a Plan B, with a choice of illness or cancellation.

The press has covered the event ad nauseum. National and sporting federations have been quiet, because the Olympic Games is what butters bread around the world, and these federations are loathe to address major problems that might impact their money.

And so nothing has changed.

If the federations won’t fight for the athletes, and the organizers are happy to ignore the media, then all that is left is for the athletes to fight for themselves.

This means that athletes will have to use their precious political capital just to get back to the baseline, rather than trying to advance more complex causes like compensating athletes out of the Olympic scheme, creating a more sustainable Games, or fighting for fairness in anti-doping programs.

In most Olympic sports, and especially in swimming, those who stick their necks out often lose their heads. Cushy alumni gigs don’t go to those who demand change for the better; they go to individuals who support the status quo; to those who keep everybody comfortable. Athletes who demand change are, ironically, blocked from positions with change-making authority on boards and staffs and committees and bureaus.

But here we are, left with little other choice as a sporting community.

And that is a failure of sport. In a world where the Olympic Games produce massive revenues off athletes’ efforts while simultaneously limiting those athletes’ abilities to make money via things like Rule 40, at a minimum, the expectation has to be that organizers protect athletes from getting sick.

After Canadian swimmer Annamay Pierse contracted Dengue Fever at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, her swimming career was never the same again.

Athletes speaking out will draw bigger headlines and more eyeballs to the cause.

When federations say they are protecting athletes by not requiring them to speak to the media, what they are actually doing is preventing athletes from developing a voice that might later be turned against the organizers themselves.

There are copious opportunities to pivot, even with three weeks to go, within organizationally-possible parameters. There was a 2022 stop of the FINA Marathon Swim World Series held in Paris, France in the lake in the Parc de la Villette. At a minimum, that means the Parc de la Villette already has a course and operational plans developed.

The Parc is also already incorporated into Olympic plans as the home of Club France and Team France. With open water swimming not being one of the big spectator draws of the Olympic Games, adapting existing plans to accommodate spectators and security issues in a zone that is already part of the games is doable, albeit a stressful exercise.

I don’t know if it is the cynic in me or the optimist in me, but I’m still holding out hope that there has been a Plan B all along, and that political brinksmanship will eventually give way to the reasonable offramp.

While attempting to avoid the embarrassment of admitting that the billion-dollar project was a failure, French authorities and organizers have instead made it the biggest embarrassment of the Games. The only thing that could exacerbate the situation even more would be to actually have to cancel events, or worse, hold the triathlon with only two disciplines.