American triathlete Seth Rider wants everyone to know: his comments that went viral this week were a joke.
The water quality of the Seine, where the swimming leg of both the women’s and men’s triathlon was held on Wednesday, has been a persistent concern for Paris 2024 organizers, athletes, and the world. Despite a $1.5 billion investment to rid the river of pollutants and make it safe for swimming, practice sessions were canceled and the men’s event postponed a day, thanks to high levels of E. coli, a bacteria indicating fecal contamination, in the water. Rain in Paris during the opening ceremonies and most of the day Saturday caused wastewater to flow into the river, pushing E. coli beyond acceptable levels.
Rider said before the triathlon that to build immunity against E. coli, he was intentionally exposing himself to the bacteria before the race. “It’s actually backed by science,” he said. “Proven methods. Just little things throughout your day, like not washing your hands after you go to the bathroom.”
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Many people took him seriously. But after finishing the Paris triathlon in 29th place, Rider clarified. “Yeah, it was a joke,” he said. “Hopefully I can handle some E. coli because I think I swallowed so much water out there. Probably everyone did.”
The swimming finally went off in the Seine without incident—for now at least. “I’m not [dead]!” China’s Xinyu Lin assured reporters on Pont Alexandre III, the site of the start and finish. Symptoms, though—like diarrhea, stomach cramping, and vomiting—may creep in over the next few hours and days. “Let’s see tonight,” says Verena Steinhauser of Italy. “I hope I will be OK. But I am a little bit nervous.”
Local fans lining the streets in the heart of Paris for the triathlon were treated to home-team gold, as Cassandre Beaugrand of France won the race in 1 hour, 50 minutes, 7 seconds, beating Julie Derron of Switzerland by 6 seconds. Beth Potter of Great Britain took the bronze.
Beaugrand finished 30th in the Rio Games and did not finish the individual event in Tokyo. Following her victory, she spotted her brother and two cousins near a security barrier, and the guards let them in to share a tearful group hug.
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“I was not worried about the Seine river, because we swam last year and no one was sick after that,” said Beaugrand, referring to the triathlon test event held in 2023. “I was confident we could swim today, and that would have been a shame if we didn’t.”
Great Britain’s Alex Yee won the men’s race, which was rescheduled to start after the women’s on Wednesday at 10:45 a.m. local time, in 1 hour, 43 minutes, 33 seconds, also 6 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher Hayden Wilde of New Zealand. France’s Leo Bergere won bronze.
A more pressing concern than pollution was the water current. “There was one point where I thought they would have to pull us all out,” says American Taylor Spivey, who finished in 10th place. “I come from a surfing background, I’ve surfed 6-ft. waves before,” says South African triathlete Jamie Riddle, who finished 25th. “I’ve been in massive currents. That was far more hectic than anything I’ve ever experienced in any sort of waves.”
Athletes offered gripes about the race. But they had little to do with pollution. Argentina’s Romina Biagioli, who did not compete in the test event last year, felt cheated by the lack of practice time in the water. “I think it’s the right of an athlete,” said Biagioli, expressing the need for proper warm-up sessions. The men’s race was originally scheduled for 8 a.m. on Tuesday; the 10:45 start time on Wednesday created more humid conditions than expected for the men. “I don’t think it’s very fair that they changed the time one day before the race,” said Lasse Luhrs of Germany, who finished in 21st place and looked drained, water and sweat droplets falling from his forehead. “There are guys who can race better in the heat, and guys who are not very used to it.” Luhrs puts himself in the latter camp. He insisted he would have altered his pre-Games training routine, swimming, cycling, and running in higher temperatures for a month, if he had known about the later start.
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American Morgan Pearson was livid about the humans, not the microbes, in the water. During the swimming portion, he accused certain opponents of impeding his progress. “These guys are pushing me under the water, and we f-cking lose 15 seconds,” says Pearson, who finished in a disappointing 31st place. “So, [Shachar] Sagiv [of Israel], [Adrien] Briffod [of Switzerland], learn how to f-cking race.”
“These guys are losers,” added Pearson. “And then they are attacking me on the bike … sick, dude. For like 50th place? What are we trying to do here?” (Sagiv came in 37th, while Briffod finished in 49th. TIME reached out to the Israeli and Swiss federations for comment and will provide any updates.)
Some athletes thought the pollution concern was a bit overblown. “We race all around the world and in all different bodies [of water],” said Tyler Mislawchuk of Canada, the ninth-place finisher. “If you stress every race about the water quality, I mean, I’m 29, I’d probably look like I was 75. I’ve lost a little bit of hair, but not that much.” And some are clearly sick of addressing the water issue, which is understandable. You’ve just fulfilled an Olympic dream and finished one of humanity’s more difficult athletic endeavors—1500 m (a near mile) in the Seine, 40 km (25 miles) on the bike, and a 10-km (6.2 miles) run through the streets of an historic city, finishing near the Grand Palais—and you’re grilled about fecal matter.
A journalist asked Taylor Knibb of the U.S. how the water tasted. “I’ve been drinking a lot of bottled water so that tastes very good,” Knibb replied. No, the journalist clarified: He meant the Seine water. “I’m not really thinking about that in the race,” she said. “But you know, I think I can grab you a cup if you want to taste it.”
Many of these triathletes will be jumping back in the Seine on August 5 for the mixed relay. And the open-water swimmers have their 10k marathon race on August 8 and August 9. They’ll all be watching the water tests, to see if there’s cause for postponement or more concern. “Doctors out there, if there’s anything I can take to kill these, I’d love to know,” says Riddle, the South African. “But racing today, as skeptical as it was, I do take my hat off to Paris. That was incredible.”
But will Riddle feel the same way tomorrow?