Authorities had nevertheless assured athletes competing in the diving pool-as well as in the water-polo pool, which was also turning green-that the water posed no risk.
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“Mid-afternoon yesterday there was a sudden change in the alkalinity of the diving pool”, Andrada said.
Previously, the Rio 2016 Local Organizing Committee said that algae was the offender, according to CNN.
“Just from TV and pictures on the computer, it looks more like an algae than alkaline problem turning the water green”, Wallace said by phone from Sacramento. “Obviously, the people in charge of maintaining the pool and of checking could and should have done more intensive tests”. Azevedo continued. “Sometimes you can have green water, black water, it doesn’t matter as long as it’s safe for us”.
In the latest development in the mysterious coloured pool debacle, Rio organizers might be feeling a bit green after athletes started seeing red.
The green water didn’t faze the athletes, though. “From a health standpoint, slightly concerning to be in water that doesn’t have the proper chemicals but not one of us will be thinking about that on competition day”.
The diving and water polo pools are part of the Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre, a permanent facility which opened in 2007. Some suggested that the green came from oxidized copper in the pool’s pipes, but others wondered whether urine was the culprit.
“I could barely open my eyes for the final quarter”, the Washington Post quoted US men’s water polo captain Tony Azevedo as saying.
It seems divers don’t care too much about the colour of the water.
“They’re used to seeing the water”, Geller said.
Hungary’s Gergo Zalanki was another player who complained about the water on Wednesday.
“I don’t know what’s happened”. “In Hungary there’s lots of water like this”.
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Water quality has been a major issue surrounding the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, but in the ocean and lagoons, not the pools.
