Men’s Triathlon Postponed Due To Water Quality
If you were planning to get up at 3:00am to watch Tyler Smith compete today [Tuesday, July 30], cancel your alarm clock as the men’s triathlon has been postponed due to the poor water quality.
A few hours before the race was scheduled to start, officials announced they have postponed the men’s triathlon race originally scheduled for 3am Bermuda time on Tuesday morning [July 30] due to the poor water quality of the Seine River.
Bermuda’s Tyler Smith is scheduled to compete in the men’s triathlon, and Dame Flora Duffy and Erica Hawley are scheduled to compete in the women’s triathlon.
“Despite the improvement on the water quality levels in the last hours, the readings at some points of the swim course are above acceptable levels,” read a statement from World Triathlon, which was released at around midnight Bermuda time.
“Paris 2024 and World Triathlon reiterate that their priority is the the health of the athletes,” the statement said.
“Unfortunately, meteorological events beyond our control, such as the rain which fell over Paris on 26 and 27 July, can alter water quality and compel us to reschedule the event for health reasons,” said an official statement from World Triathlon. “Despite the improvement of water quality levels over the last hours, the readings at some points of the swim course are still above the acceptable limits.”
NBC reports, “Swimming hasn’t been allowed in the Seine for about a century because of contamination, and many people remained skeptical as to whether authorities could clean it up in time for the Games.
“Last year, Olympics organizers planned to hold test triathlon events in the Seine to make sure the competitions could run smoothly, but several of those events were canceled after the river failed pollution tests in August.”
The new plan is that they will hold the men’s triathlon after the women’s triathlon on Wednesday, however this will still be contingent upon the water quality, so we will continue follow along for the latest developments.
If all goes to plan, Bermuda will have three triathletes in action on Wednesday [July 31], with Dame Flora Duffy and Erica Hawley scheduled to compete first at 3am Bermuda time, and then followed by Tyler Smith.
Bernews will be providing comprehensive coverage of Bermuda’s athletes in the coming weeks.
- View the ‘Best Interview The Best’ series here
- View profiles of all ten athletes representing Bermuda here
- View our dedicated website Bermuda2024.com here
- View all our articles on the Bermuda 2024 Games here on Bernews
- View our ongoing live text/photo/video updates here
