Yachtsmen encounter floating furniture on Rio’s Olympic courses, including a washing machine

MANY challenges await in an Olympic yachting campaign but Mat Belcher is confident being knocked out of contention by a floating washing machine is no longer one of them.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - DECEMBER 04: Mathew Belcher (L) and Will Ryan (R) pose during a selection announcement for the Australian Olympic Games sailing team for Rio 2016, at Middle Harbour Yacht Club on December 4, 2015 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images for AOC)

MANY challenges await in an Olympic yachting campaign but Mat Belcher is confident being knocked out of contention by a floating washing machine is no longer one of them.

Infection and illness from polluted waters and collisions on the water with floating furniture have been among the barriers dealt with by competitors to have tested their skills and endurance on Rio’s Olympic courses.

Queensland 470 class world champions Belcher and Will Ryan have been back in Rio this week, placing second after one day’s racing at the Copa de Brazil regatta.

German yachtsman Eric Heil had surgery in August when a scratched leg became infected by water from one of the polluted stretches of the Rio waters at an Olympics test event.

A Berlin hospital found Heil had contracted MRSA, a type of bacteria.

“Eric had a small cut on his leg and by the time he got from Rio he ended up being hospitalised for a week with a really bad inflammation of his leg,’’ said Belcher, who won the 2012 Olympic gold medal in the class with Malcolm Page.

“He had five or six five-cent piece-sized (sections of flesh) cut out of his leg.

“Three were hospitalised during the event. In August, there were a lot of team who had people get sick but didn’t make it public because they didn’t want their competitors to know they had been throwing up.’’

Independent testing earlier this year showing dangerously high levels of viruses from human sewage at all Rio Olympic water venues.

Brazilian officials have not acted to live up to previous promises to improving sanitation standards of the waterways.

“In some ways, it’s improved. The debris in the water is not like it was,’’ Belcher said.

“When we first went there in 2013, it was pretty bad to be honest but because of the profile of this topic it’s got a lot better.

“One of the other competitors in 2013 saw a washing machine on the waters. We saw a floating dog and some chairs and a table, eskies … they cause problems.

Mathew Belcher (left) and Will Ryan (right) pose during a selection announcement for the Australian Olympic Games sailing team for Rio 2016. Picture: Getty

“At the pre-Olympics (in August), we couldn’t race on one of the Olympic courses because there as too much rubbish on the course and we had to be diverted to another race area. So it’s still an issue but they are definitely are addressing it.’’

Belcher said there were good aspects of the “diverse’’ Rio regatta courses and he and other Australian yachtsmen had faith in Australian Olympic Committee medical planning.

The yachting team is one of the best funded sports by the AOC and Belcher said he and Ryan will have spent a total of five months on the water at Rio in the four years leading up to the Games in August.

“We’re taking as many precautions as we can and we have a really good management plan,’’ he said.

“It can really hit you at any time.

“We wear sunglasses the whole time and cover up if we have any cuts at all.’’

Spraying water while in the boat is an occupational hazard.

“We can keep our mouths closed as much as possible (to keep spray out), which is hard when you are trying to communicate,’’ Belcher said.

Originally published as Yachtsmen encounter floating furniture on Rio’s Olympic courses, including a washing machine