Breaking: 10% of Olympic Athletes Who Swam in Paris' Seine Experienced Gastrointestinal Illnesses, Says US Official.
Yesterday, I interviewed Dr. Jonathan Finnoff, the Chief Medical Officer for the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee for MedPage Today. I asked how many Olympic triathletes and open water swimmers became ill after swimming in the Seine River at the Paris Games, held earlier this month. The city had spent $1.5 billion in an attempt to rid the notoriously dirty water of pathogens known to cause gastrointestinal illness, like E. coli. There had been reports that at least some swimmers became sick after competing, despite the waters being declared safe for swimming, but until now, I hadn’t heard any specific figure, nor a comparison to prior Olympics.
His answer surprised me. He said that around 10% of the Olympians (all nations) who competed in the Seine subsequently experienced gastrointestinal infections. That’s a high rate, and it remains relevant, as the Paralympic Games are beginning soon—and current plans include holding the swimming portion of the triathlon in the Seine.
The full story is on MedPage Today, in a story that we broke just this morning.
And the rest of the my interview with Dr. Finnoff was also very interesting. We’ll get that out to you soon!
Should the Paralympic athletes swim in the Seine as Olympians did earlier this month? What do you think? Chime in in the Comments!
As always you deliver!
Have you compared this number with other open swim events? From my limited reading, it seems within the expected range.