Diving pool drained of green water

SYNCHRONIZED swimmers were greeted by clear blue water in the Rio competition pool after officials worked through the night on Saturday to replace murky green water.

Replacing the water in time for training and competition yesterday was a significant challenge. The pool holds nearly 3.73 million litres of water.

But divers were training as expected yesterday. Organisers have insisted there are no health risks posed by the discoloured water seen in the pool during and earlier water polo competition and in a different diving pool.

Still, visibility underwater is a major issue in synchronized swimming, where competitors need to be able to see their teammates.

Officials blamed hydrogen peroxide, added to the pool by a contractor, as the cause of the pool turning a murky green.

Clean-up efforts were also failing at the adjacent diving pool, which is a darker green.

But while the diving pool can stay green without affecting competition, venue manager Gustavo Nascimento said synchronised swimming required crystal-clear water.

“Hydrogen peroxide was used in the cleaning of swimming pools but should not be mixed with chlorine,” Nascimento said. “Our contractor’s failure is our failure,” he said. Divers said it had no effect on their performances but water polo players using the larger pool complained of stinging eyes as extra chlorine was pumped in.