“We made a mountain out of a molehill about the Seine, we swam in something much more disgusting,” assures Cyril Viennot after the Paralympic triathlon

Le pont Alexandre III sur lequel les para-triathlètes se sont élancés pour plonger dans la Seine. MAXPPP – ANDRE PAIN

Après plusieurs jours d'incertitude, les para-triathlètes se sont bien baignés dans la Seine pour la partie natation ce lundi 2 septembre.

Swimming in the Seine was the talk of the town until the end. And until the end, all the athletes who had an event related to the Parisian river waited until the night before their event to find out if it was passable.

Which annoyed some people. “There is really nothing insurmountable”, assures Cyril Viennot, guide of the silver medalist in the PTVI triathlon, Thibaut Rigaudeau. “They bored us with that. But we have swum in much more disgusting canals. We wanted to be there. Being sick for a week, who cares? We made a big deal out of it, but honestly, the water was pretty clear." "With a few apples sometimes, though", Rigaudeau smiled.

"That created a lot of uncertainty"

For the organization, the health of the riders remained “the priority”. Even if it means playing with the nerves of some people. “Triathlon or duathlon, the Seine or not the Seine, it put a lot of uncertainty in the preparation”, swears Jules Ribstein. Which didn't stop him from winning gold in PTS2.