All that green water in the Olympic pools continued to be a problem Friday morning as officials canceled practice for divers.
Rio 2016 Organizing Committee spokesman Mario Andrada said they closed off the pool to athletes hoping to get in some practice dives in order to let the water remain still and let corrective chemicals do their work. Andrada said they've been working with local health officials and FINA, the world governing body for aquatic sports, to find the proper balance of chemicals to return it to the classic blue expected in world competitions.
"We have learned that chemistry is not an exact science," Andrada said.
Andrada said they made the decision to cancel training because few divers were trying to practice and a light rain was making it difficult for the water to sit still. The divers were sent instead to a "dry facility" to get their work in.
"Not ideal, but we believe that fixing the water and making it look like it should was a priority in this case," he said.
Tom Daley, a British diver who's already won a bronze medal in the 10-meter synchronized competition and still has individual events coming up, has said that the green color actually helps divers see the water. But on Friday morning, after he couldn't practice, he worried about the larger implications.
Diving pool is closed this morning. Hopefully that means we haven't been diving in anything too bad the last couple of days! 😷😷😷
— Tom Daley (@TomDaley1994) August 12, 2016
"Hopefully that means we haven't been diving in anything too bad the last couple of days!" he said in a Tweet.
German diver Patrick Hausding posted a picture on Instagram covering his nose over the pool under the caption "The pool is CLOSED!" He added another picture where he and his teammates have been given a distinctive green tint: #hulk #shrek.
Andrada said some athletes complained of itchy eyes earlier in the week, but said that was due to chlorine added to the pool to fix the color of the water. He said extensive tests this week have shown that chemical levels have remained well within international health standards.
"We reiterate what we’ve been saying all along — the water doesn't offer any threat to the health of the athletes," he said.
