Back to blue at troubled Olympic aquatics venue

It was revealed that 80 litres of hydrogen-peroxide was put in the pool on the day of the opening ceremony on August 5 – a chemical that should never be combined with chlorine, as any pool owner knows. Contrarily, NBC Olympics states some divers said the green pool water helped them during competition by giving them a contrast with the blue sky when spinning in the air.

Officials have run the gamut on possible explanations, including algae bloom and a chemical imbalance caused by too many people using the pool.

After they failed to explain why the diving pool water turned green and were unsuccessful in finding a solution to the problem, the organizers of the 2016 Rio Olympics chose to drain the pool.

Replacing the water in time for the early-morning training, and competition at 11am (2am NZ Time), was a significant challenge, because the pool holds some three million litres of water.

With competition hours away, let’s hope the 2016 Rio Olympic green pools are cleared for swimming.

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

Officials will now transfer nearly four million litres of water into the pool to ensure the synchronised swimming competition can start as scheduled on Monday. “We are here to support the athletes who train their whole lives to perform at their best in the best conditions possible, but we do not want in any way, shape or form to put the athletes’ health and safety at risk”.

By Saturday afternoon, the diving pool remained a murky green.

“Of course it’s an embarrassment”, said Mario Andrada.

Organisers said the pool was still safe to enter, as water polo competed in the next pool. “We learned a painful lesson the hard way”. You’re standing on the stairs and you can’t see your feet, one and half meters down. “When you’re standing up there it’s pretty off-putting”. After the diving pool was closed for a scheduled practice session on Friday, Germany’s Patrick Hausding posted a couple of pictures, one holding his nose with the caption: “Good morning from the green lake!” The drastic move comes after the maintenance team admitted that they tried everything in order to change back the color of the water to blue.

“This was probably the only issue that we were unable to solve quickly”. A backup platform is set to be brought in for the women’s 10-kilomter race Monday.

Officials were working to recover the structure on Copacabana beach, where it was found.

Officials blamed the color of the water on “the proliferation of algae” caused by the heat and lack of wind.