Rio 2016: Dirty water forces Aussie swimmers out of pool

Rio de Janeiro’s poor water quality is worrying Games competitors. /Yonhap

By Choi Ha-young

Australia’s Olympic swimming team has stopped using its training pool in Rio de Janeiro because of “cloudy,” “soupy” water. The team has found a less-polluted pool for warm-ups.

“Rather than risk eye, ear or any other infection, we brought them in here,” assistant coach Michael Bohl was quoted as saying by The Sydney Morning Herald.

Rio’s water pollution has reached an alarming level. According to the Associated Press, Games water venues in the Brazilian city are teeming with dangerous viruses and drug-resistant super-bacteria from sewage.

Experts said the problem could be blamed on the city’s worn-out sewerage system. Germ-infested water leaks through cracks in pipes and pollutes water delivered to swimming pools, they said.

Concern is rising, but the Brazilian government is helpless to do anything because of budget problems, they said.