Paris must have 'plan B' for open water swimming: Olympic champ Cunha

RIO DE JANEIRO: Brazilian swimmer Ana Marcela Cunha, the reigning Olympic open water champion, has called on organisers of this year's Paris Games to draw up a "plan B" in case events cannot be held in the Seine due to poor water quality.

Last August, the marathon swimming test events were cancelled because the water was too dirty, as were the swimming legs on two of the four days of triathlon and para-triathlon tests.

Organisers have insisted "there is no plan B" but the Brazilian called for a rethink.

"It's a concern," Cunha told AFP in an interview on the sidelines of a competition on Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana beach.

"There was no test event last year because of this but (the organisers) insist on wanting the events to take place there.

"We need a plan B in case it's not possible to swim in the Seine," she said adding that difficulties in swimming in Paris were linked to an "infrastructure" problem.

"The Seine is not made for swimming," she said.

The organisers have deliberately chosen a route for the men's and women's 10-kilometre events that will showcase the beauty of the city.

But Cunha, 31, believes that is secondary to the health of the athletes.

"It's not a question of erasing the history of the Seine," she said.

"We know what the Pont Alexandre-III and the Eiffel Tower represent but I think that the health of the athletes must come first," she added.

"The organisers must accept that perhaps it will, unfortunately, not be possible to hold the events where they want to."

With less than five months to go until the opening ceremony on Jul 26, river water quality continues to give organisers sleepless nights.

French authorities have spent €1.4 billion (US$1.5 billion) upgrading sewage and storm water treatment facilities in