Paris organizers confident in Seine despite rainout

Heavy rain in Paris over the weekend led to the cancellation of a swimming event on the River Seine that was to be a test for the Olympic Games next year, but organizers "insist the waterway will be better prepared in 2024." The Open Water Swimming World Cup event was aborted because "the water quality in the Seine has remained below acceptable standards," the French Swimming Federation said on Sunday in a statement. Paris is spending massively on water-management projects that officials say will "make pollution caused by storms less frequent." The Seine "is the venue for marathon swimming at the Games and the swimming leg of the Olympic and Paralympic triathlon." Paris 2024 organizers and the city’s authorities said in a joint statement that "in recent weeks, water quality in the Seine has regularly reached the levels required for competitions to be held on the dedicated site, demonstrating the significant progress made" (AP, 8/6).