Olympic athletes competing in the men’s and women’s triathlons in Paris have been battling against a strong current in the river Seine, with images showing swimmers slowly powering forward.

Kiwi triathletes Hayden Wilde and Nicole van der Kaay spoke to Radio New Zealand about the strong currents ahead of the races, saying they were as much an issue as the earlier publicised concerns about water quality.

Wilde and van der Kaay said the currents in the Seine were nearly three times as strong as the ones they usually encounter in races.

Wilde told First Up he had been training extra hard to compensate for the stronger current.

“That [the current] can cause some problems because it makes the swim a lot harder. I’ve sacrificed a lot to get where I am now. There was a lot of work that I put in, a lot of blood, sweat and tears,” Wilde said.