"Vomited nine times" German swimmer falls ill after racing in the Seine
The water quality of the Seine caused a lot of discussion before the Olympic open water races. Now the competitions are over and a German swimmer is ill.
The German open water swimmer Leonie Beck reported symptoms of illness after her Olympic race in the Seine. The 27-year-old wrote on Instagram that she had vomited nine times yesterday and also reported diarrhea. Beck also posted a picture showing her looking a little groggy and with her thumb up.
"The water quality in the Seine is approved," Beck added to her Instagram post, obviously with ironic intent. The European champion had competed in her Olympic ten-kilometer race on Thursday, finishing in ninth place.
Water values suddenly good enough
There had already been a lot of discussion about the water quality in the large Parisian river during the Olympic Games surrounding the triathlon competitions. An open water training session was also canceled because the water quality was too poor.
However, according to the organizers, the water quality was sufficient for a training session on Wednesday and the women's race on Thursday and the men's race on Friday. After her ten-kilometre race, Beck expressed her hope: "I hope we don't get anything from it."
Investments of around 1.4 billion euros
In recent years, the state has invested around 1.4 billion euros to clean up the Seine. To do this, numerous households had to be connected to the sewage system, which had previously discharged their wastewater directly into the Seine and its tributaries. In addition, a huge overflow basin was built in Paris so that the sewage system no longer flooded the Seine during heavy rainfall.
