Irish Olympian Daniel Whiffen Hospitalized After Paris River Seine Marathon Swim: What You Need to Know

Paris (AFP)

Ireland’s two-time Olympic medalist Daniel Whiffen has revealed he was “urgently rushed” to hospital in Paris with a stomach problem two days after taking part in the marathon ‘ swim in the River Seine.
The 800-metre freestyle champion and 1,500-metre bronze medalist was due to carry the Irish flag at the closing ceremony, but did not show up.
Weffen wrote on his account on the “X” platform, in the early hours of Monday morning, “Thank you to everyone who contacted me.
He said, “I went to the hospital because I was very sick, because of a disease I was being treated for, and I feel better now.”
Wiffen took part in the men’s 10 km open water race on the River Seine on Friday, and was in eighteenth place with a time of one hour and 58 minutes.
The Irishman did not link his illness to the water, and the organizers emphasized that health problems should not be automatically attributed to the river.
Paris Olympic organizers wished Loeven a “speedy recovery” but said they knew of “no established link between the disease and the quality of the Seine water.”
The organizers said in a statement: “The water quality on the day of the men’s marathon was rated very good or excellent, at all four test points, and within the limits set by the International Water Federation -water.”
At least three athletes out of more than 100 participants in the men’s and women’s triathlon races on July 31 succumbed to the disease after diving into the waters of the Seine River at the swimming level of the competition.