The City Swim in the canals of Meppel is canceled this Sunday. A measurement on Tuesday shows that there are too many bacteria in the water.
A measurement was also taken last week, when virtually no bacteria were found. “We are very curious where this increase comes from”, organizer Robert de Vries responds. This morning he was informed of the results of the last measurement. It was immediately decided not to allow the swimming competition to take place.
“The health of the participants is above all else.” It is a bacteria that causes people to get diarrhea if they ingest too much.” So far, the organization has received more than sixty registrations, which is the same as previous editions. “With the nice weather coming, there are always more last minute registrations. We think we would have around 80 to 85 participants.”
The City Swim has been held since 2016 and is part of the Grachtenfestival. This will be held for the seventeenth time this weekend. During the Grachtenfestival there are almost fifty boats in the canals.
A number of boats have already arrived this week. “It may be that a ship has discharged into the water, but that is still pure speculation,” says De Vries about the cause of the spontaneous increase in the number of bacteria in the water.
He doesn’t think it’s because of the hot weather. “We have often held this in warm weather. Last year it was even warmer, so the temperature should not be a problem.” He also does not yet know how many bacteria are involved. “Only that the concentration is considerably too high.”
The organization will not move the competition to another time and is already focusing on next year. “We fall under the Grachtenfestival. If we are going to hold it later, we will have to apply for a permit and we will have to deal with first aid, for example. That in turn leads to extra costs.”