Swedish swimmer pulls out of Olympic marathon in Seine over health concerns

PARIS : Swedish marathon swimmer Victor Johansson has pulled out of the Olympic men's 10km event scheduled for Friday citing concerns about the water quality of the Seine river, Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter reported.

Johansson told the paper triathletes had fallen sick after swimming in the urban river during the Olympic competition, without naming any.

"There is a lot of information that has been flying around, but what we know for sure is that people have become ill," the paper quoted him as saying.

"So even though the levels (of E.coli bacteria) have gone down, it didn't feel good to start.

"The triathletes were in the Seine for about 20 minutes, and despite the short time, some got sick," Johansson added.

Swedish media reported that the nation's triathlete Tilda Mansson fell sick and was vomiting a few days after competing in the women's event on July 31, though the team did not confirm there was a connection with the Seine water.

"We have to be in the water for two hours," said 25-year-old Johansson.

"You swallow anywhere from 0 to 250 millilitres (8.45 fluid ounces) of water per hour, so at worst I would have been able to come up from the Seine with half litre of water."

Swedish Olympic Committee doctor Lykke Tamm said Johansson had dialogue with the medical team which backed his decision not to swim.

"We fully support Victor's decision not to participate," Tamm said in a statement.

"After careful consideration of all the factors surrounding Victor, my recommendation is that he should not swim in the Seine as it stands now. Health is always most important."

Reuters has sought comment from swimming governing body World Aquatics. Paris Games organisers referred Reuters to World Aquatics.

The Netherlands' Sharon van