Australia swim team avoid using Olympic pool for fear of sickness after water ‘turns soupy’

CLOUDY and soupy water has forced Australia’s swimming team out of the main training pool in Rio; amazingly however some athletes continue to use the facility.

Australia's Mitch Larkin during swimming training at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Picture. Phil Hillyard

AUSTRALIA’S swim team have sought assurances from Olympic organisers after the main warm up pool at the competition venue turned cloudy and “soupy looking.”

Leading swim coach Michael Bohl, who has seven athletes racing in Rio, said he had to move his training session into the main arena as a precaution because the water quality had deteriorated at the warm up pool.

Bohl brought world champion Mitch Larkin, butterflyers Emma McKeon and Grant Irvine into the main arena for the afternoon session as a health precaution.

While Bohl said other swimmers remained training in the cloudy water, organisers had assured him they were looking into the problem.

Australia's Mitch Larkin during swimming training at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Picture. Phil Hillyard

“That pool looked really cloudy,” Bohl said about the pool which is a temporary built just for the Olympics.

“Rather than risk getting eye or ear or nose infections or anything we just thought we’d move them in here. It was very soupy looking.

“It’s just today for some reason. People are swimming in it.

“It started out nice that pool but for some reason as the afternoon wore on the water just got really soupy looking

Rio Olympics 2016. Australian swimming practice at the aquatics centre in Rio de Janeiro Brazil. Mitch Larkin. Picture: Alex Coppel.

“I’ve already asked a lady then and she said they’re aware of it and they’re working on it.”

Meanwhile Australia’s Mack Horton has brushed off attempted gamesmanship and taunting from China’s Olympic superstar Sun Yang just two days out from their 400m freestyle showdown in Rio.

Sun and Horton were training in one of the three pools in Rio available to the swimmers ahead of the Olympics when it was alleged the Chinese champion started splashing at Horton to gain his attention.

Horton’s coach Craig Jackson told Fairfax Media the Aussie Olympic rookie ignored Sun’s antics, while the Chinese swimming team manager Xu Qi rejected the story as “fake news” on crienglish.com website.

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Originally published as Australia swim team avoid using Olympic pool for fear of sickness after water ‘turns soupy’