Work begins on returning diving pool to blue in Rio

Spectators and viewers were left baffled earlier this week when the diving pool began to change colour, eventually settling on a misty green shade, having previously been bright blue.

“Diving pool is closed this morning”, he said on Twitter.

While competition is expected to continue on schedule, training was stopped on Friday to allow for the water to remain still, a move created to help remove the persistent algae problem.

However, Andrada said that the water won’t do any harm to the health of the athletes.

Mario Andrada, chief spokesman for the local organizing committee, stressed that the pool was safe for competition, clearing the way for the 3-meter preliminaries.

World swimming governing body FINA said the colour was the result of a failure by Games organisers to sufficiently treat the water, after tanks at the pools had run out of pool chemicals.

The organizers responded by putting more chlorine, a chemical that kills algae and helps to keep water blue, in the pool and its neighbor but water polo players later complained about stinging eyes. “We reduced immediately the quantity (of chlorine)”.

Mexican star diver Paola Espinosa also said: “We noticed it, but it didn’t smell, and nothing is left on our skin, so it didn’t really affect us”. He added that athletes had access to dry-land training in the morning, but conceded that “was not ideal”.

The second American diver, Kassidy Cook, said the water wasn’t a problem during the competition. “We made a little mistake”. “When the sky’s blue and the water’s blue, you can get them confused”. “She vented her anger on Twitter, writing that “#FixTheSwamp” should become a trending topic.

Still, it’s worth mentioning that not all athletes anxious about the green water.

He explained that the changing color of the pool was the result of increased alkaline levels, much like aquarium water can turn green when not monitored properly.