Olympic swimmers are staving off E. coli by chugging Coca-Cola

A group of swimmers run out of the Seine river. (Credit: Nathan Laine—Bloomberg/Getty Images)

Not only is Coca-Cola an official sponsor for the Paris Olympics, but it’s received ringing endorsements from some athletes. Olympic swimmers are chugging Coke after events because of its supposed ability to stave off bacteria and stomach issues—a real concern for those swimming in a heavily polluted Seine river.

“The myth of Coca-Cola is true,” Moesha Johnson, an Australian marathon swimmer, told the Wall Street Journal. “We will often have a Coca-Cola afterwards just to try to flush out anything inside of us.”