Human sewage threatening Rio Games swimming waters

Eurosport | World of Sport

30 July 2015 at 9:42 pm

An investigation has found evidence that the areas in which Olympians will compete in swimming and boating events contains high levels of viruses and bacteria and presents a very serious threat to the health of the athletes, as well as for visitors to the famous beaches of the popular city.

The Associated Press conducted four rounds of testing in the waters starting back in March and the shocking results have led to top experts and many competitors expressing their worry at the health risks the contaminated waters pose.

A number of athletes have already fallen ill with fevers, vomiting and diarrhoea, and concerns are growing ahead of next year’s Games, with many worried that the consequences of such filthy waters could potentially harm Olympic dreams and spoil the years of training required to compete at such a level.

Debris floats at the Penha Canal that streams directly into the Guanabara Bay in Rio de Janeiro . Source: World of Sport

"This is by far the worst water quality we've ever seen in our sailing careers," said Ivan Bulaja, a coach for the Austrian team, which has spent months training on the Guanabara Bay. "I am quite sure if you swim in this water and it goes into your mouth or nose that quite a lot of bad things are coming inside your body."

Sailor David Hussl has already fallen ill.

"I've had high temperatures and problems with my stomach," Hussl said. "It's always one day completely in bed and then usually not sailing for two or three days."

Officials for the Rio Games insist the water will be safe by the time the event kicks off on August 5, 2016, but the AP claims that, during the five months of testing, not one venue for swimming or boating was deemed fit to compete in.

Dead fish lie on the shores of Rodrigo de Freitas Lake in southern Rio de Janeiro. Source: World of Sport

"What you have there is basically raw sewage," said John Griffith, a marine biologist at the independent Southern California Coastal Water Research Project. "It's all the water from the toilets and the showers and whatever people put down their sinks, all mixed up, and it's going out into the beach waters."

Griffith said that if waters were found with such high levels of contamination in the United States then they "would be shut down immediately."