An Olympic triathlete shared her disgusting experience of swimming in the Seine as she blasted the officials who claimed the polluted river was safe enough to swim in.
Jolien Vermeylen, representing Belgium at this year’s Games, said she felt debris in the water during her 1500-meter swim through the iconic French river at the beginning of the Women’s Triathlon on Wednesday.
“While swimming under the bridge, I felt and saw things that we shouldn’t think about too much,” she told Flemish TV channel VTM, according to Metro.
Vermeylen finished in 24th place. She said she had ingested a lot of water during the race and was concerned with what it would do to her body.
“We’ll know tomorrow if I’m sick or not,” she said. “It doesn’t taste like Coca-Cola or Sprite, of course.”
The women dove into the water after officials gave the green light, signaling the water was clean and safe enough to compete amid reports of high levels of E. coli and other bacteria.
In June tests found the level of E. coli in the water was 10 times above the acceptable levels, according to CBS News.
The E. coli bacteria is often linked to fecal matter and can cause diarrhea, urinary tract infections, pneumonia and sepsis.
“Despite the improvement on the water quality levels in the last hours, the readings at some points of the swim course are still above the acceptable limits,” organizers had said.
Training events leading up to the races in the river were canceled because of the water quality and the men’s triathlon was postponed from Tuesday to Wednesday.
In preparation to hold the Olympics in Paris, officials undertook an ambitious plan, including $1.5 billion in infrastructure improvements, to clean up the long-polluted Seine.
They were insistent that the swimming portion of the triathlon and the marathon swimming events could safely be held in the river.
Vermeylen called out the same officials for allowing the world-class athletes to compete in such polluted waters.
“The Seine has been dirty for a hundred years, so they can’t say that the safety of the athletes is a priority. That’s bulls–t!” she said.
The 30-year-old first-time Olympian said she took precautions before the race.
“I took pro-biotics, I drank my Yakult, I couldn’t do more. I had the idea of not drinking water, but yes, it failed.
“It was now or never, and they couldn’t cancel the race completely either. Now they just have to hope that there won’t be too many sick athletes.”
At the end of the races, France’s Cassandre Beaugrand and Britain’s Alex Yee took home the gold medal in their respective races.
