“Of course it’s an embarrassment”, Mario Andrada, a spokesman for the Rio Games, said at the press conference. A maintenance worker added 160 liters of hydrogen peroxide to the pool 10 days ago, neutralizing the chlorine and letting all manner of nastiness grow in the water.
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The massive undertaking was necessary to ensure clear water for both judges and competitors, who spend much of their time underwater during synchronised swimming. “And also we should have – and could have – done better in fixing it quickly”. She concluded that they learned painful lessons the hard way. “The warm-up water is in ideal condition with aesthetics, visibility and transparency for the athletes to perform at their best”.
The water inside the Olympic diving pool first started to turn green during Tuesday’s synchronized diving events.
Olympic organizers took “extreme measures” by draining a swimming pool that had turned green and refilling it Sunday, just a few hours before the start of the synchronized swimming events, an official said.
Andrada stressed that Rio officials had been able to solve myriad issues plaguing the games, but conceded they were out of short-term options when it came to the green water.
Olympics officials have given what they described was a definitive explanation why the water in two competition pools had turned green last week.
Plymouth bronze medallist Tom Daley leapt to the defence of the freaky green Olympic diving pool after it caused consternation during the final of the women’s synchronised 10 metres platform final.
Nascimento explained that sand in filters was changed on Friday night in an eight-hour operation and the water has slowly improved, but not fast enough. They assured the athletes that the water “wasn’t dangerous” and the diving competitions continued without a hitch.
Ishchenko’s partner, Svetlana Romashina, said the pool was only half-full when the swimmers arrived to prepare. Peroxide neutralized chlorine, allowed algae to bloom.
The pools were still in use on Saturday as the women’s springboard diving finals continued.
With competition hours away, let’s hope the 2016 Rio Olympic green pools are cleared for swimming.
The Olympic diving pool will be drained and replaced with clean water, officials have revealed.
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The officials aren’t sure yet who chose to dump a boatload of hydrogen peroxide into their pools, but they have established that was catalyst for the pools’ sudden color change.
