‘I’d swim in anything’: triathlete Hauser shrugs off Paris pollution concerns

There have been concerns that the Olympic triathlon might be postponed or even reduced to a duathlon because of water quality problems in the Seine but Australia’s Matt Hauser says he will gladly take the plunge at the Paris Games.

Paris has been working on cleaning up the river so that people can swim in it again, as was the case during the 1900 Olympics. But a sewer problem last summer led to the cancellation of a pre-Olympics swimming event along with the swimming legs of triathlon and Paralympics triathlon events over water quality concerns.

Related: Yoghurt and disinfectant: Team GB’s plan for Olympic triathlon swim in Seine

Hauser, who won a triathlon bronze at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, said the Seine held no fears for him. “To be honest, for me, I’d swim in anything to try and get a medal,” the 26-year-old said in comments published by the Sydney Morning Herald.

“Give me a swig of Coca-Cola and some Gastro-Stop tablets and just put me in there. Obviously, the race organisers and World Triathlon have our safety and interest at heart, and they’ll be doing all they can to ensure that that is the case. But I’ve got no doubt that no one would hesitate to jump into the water.”

Earlier this month the president of the Paris 2024 Olympics admitted that the triathlon competition could be delayed, or the swimming leg even cancelled, if adverse weather conditions affected water quality in the Seine this summer.

Several French officials have promised to take a dip in the Seine before the Olympics to show the water is safe, including President, Emmanuel Macron, and Paris mayor, Anne Hidalgo.