Swimmers drink Coca-Cola after competing in the polluted Seine River

Olympic swimmers may have found a possible cure for beating the E. coli-ridden Seine River that was one of the big stories at the 2024 Paris Olympics — a can of Coca-Cola.

Several world-class athletes swear that baking soda has helped them ward off bacteria and any infections they might pick up from competing in open water.

“It’s not bad to have a Coke after a race,” New Zealand’s Ainsley Thorpe told the Wall Street Journal after last week’s Women’s Triathlon. “If you Google it, they say it can help.”

Doctors say there is no medical support for Coca-Cola to be a gastroenterological remedy, but many athletes still take advice from the professionals around them in Paris.

“The Coca-Cola myth is true,” said Australian marathon swimmer Moesha Johnson. “We’ll often have a Coke afterwards just to try to get anything out of us.”

Olympians also took probiotic cocktails before and after their races to tackle the polluted river in Paris.

“I took probiotics, I drank my Yakult, I couldn’t do more,” Belgian triathlete Jolien Vermeylen said after the July 31 race. “I came up with the idea of ​​not drinking water, but yeah, it didn’t work. “

Ironically, Vermeylen said Sena “doesn’t taste like Coke or Sprite, of course.”

Dr. Maria Abreu, president of the American Gastroenterological Association, said Coca-Cola wouldn’t have much of an effect on an Olympic athlete’s intestines.

“These are young, athletic people, right? There will be healthy people whose stomach acid will be nice and robust,” Abreu said.

Other athletes treat soda as an energy drink to help replace some of the sugar lost during competition, since a 12-ounce can contains 39 grams of sweets, or nearly 10 teaspoons.

“My coach advised me to (drink Coca-Cola) to immediately restore those glycogen levels,” American Katie Grimes told the press. “No Diet Coke, just straight Coke. Nothing does it better than that.”

A video posted by USA Swimming captures Grimes holding a Coke bottle after qualifying for the Paris Olympics in July 2023.

The 18-year-old Las Vegas native has already won the silver medal in the women’s 400m individual medley and will dive into the Seine on Thursday morning for the women’s marathon 10km swim.

PARIS 2024 OLYMPICS

Former Team USA open water swimmer Emily Klueh shared a similar sentiment about soda, saying she craved the soda during races because she was sick of Gatorade.

He also liked some stronger liquids.

“I’ve heard that a shot of Jägermeister just kills everything in the stomach,” Klueh told the Wall Street Journal.

Thursday’s race was given the green light by Olympic officials after water quality tests reached thresholds.

Several familiarization events in the Seine have been canceled due to failed water quality tests.

Marathon Swimming training for August 6 was canceled this week because levels of enterococci – bacteria found in faeces – were above acceptable thresholds for World Aquatics.

The men’s individual triathlon was postponed for several days because E. coli levels were too high when rain during the opening ceremonies forced sewage into the river.

Before the Olympics, officials undertook an ambitious plan, including $1.5 billion in infrastructure improvements, to clean up the long-polluted Seine.

Several athletes have developed illnesses following individual triathlons.

Competitors from Belgium and Switzerland fell ill, forcing the Swiss to change their roster for Monday’s medley relay and Belgium to withdraw from the race.

“The BOIC and Belgian Triathlon have to announce, unfortunately, that the ‘Belgian Hammers’ will not start the mixed relay at the Paris Olympics tomorrow,” the country said in a statement. “The decision, like this communication, was made in consultation with the athletes and their entourage.

“Relay member Claire Michel is unfortunately ill and must withdraw from the competition.”

It was not clear whether the Seine water was the cause of the illnesses.