Rio Olympic water badly polluted, even far offshore — AP test

Athletes who are competing in open water swimming, triathlon, sailing, canoeing and rowing would have a 99 percent chance of being infected with a virus by ingesting as little as three teaspoons of the water.

According to the AP’s 2013 report, “In the neon green waters around the site of the future Olympic Park, the average fecal pollution rate is 78 times that of the Brazilian government’s “satisfactory” limit – and 195 times the level considered safe in the U.S”.

Rio’s waters have high viral and bacterial counts not only near shore, but also far offshore where athletes will be swimming and rowing.

Now, the AP’s most recent tests since August show not only no improvement in water quality – but that the water is even more widely contaminated than previously known.

After athletes such as Heil were sickened by the waters this summer, Rio’s Olympic organizers promised to start testing for viruses – a much more comprehensive way to determine a body of water’s cleanliness than simply testing for bacteria – and using that information to best clean up the waters.

The contamination is most likely linked to the fact that, like many developing nations, Brazil’s sewage is untreated and flows as such into Guanabara Bay, the Rodrigo Freitas Lagoon and the famous Copacabana Beach. Waterborne virus expert Kristina Mena says none of the water venues for the city’s 2016 Olympics, including the bay, are safe for swimmers or boaters.

A July study by the AP showed high levels of viruses and bacteria from human sewage in Olympic and Paralympic venues.

“The health and safety of athletes is always a top priority and there is no doubt that water within the field of play meets the relevant standards”. Ipanema Beach, popular with tourists and where numerous expected 350,000 foreign visitors will take a dip during the games, was also tested.

Despite those efforts, athletes at a competition in August still fell ill. “The number of viruses found over a kilometer from the shore in Guanabara Bay, where sailors compete at high speeds and get utterly drenched, are equal to those found along shorelines closer to sewage sources”, AP says. Shortly after participating in an Olympic test event in Rio, Olympic sailor Erik Heil was treated at a Berlin hospital for MRSA, a flesh-eating bacteria. Further putting the news into perspective, Mena said, “If we saw those levels here in the United States on beaches, officials would likely close those beaches”.

“These pathogens we’re looking for, especially the viruses, are able to migrate in the currents in a big way”, he said.