SINGAPORE: The World Aquatics Championships open water events have been hit by further postponements as water quality levels at the Sentosa venue remain unacceptable, said World Aquatics on Tuesday (Jul 15).
In a statement, the sport’s governing body said that while water quality results have “improved”, further tests have shown that levels still exceed “acceptable thresholds”.
This meant that the men’s 10km race and the women’s 10km race, which were scheduled for 7.30am and 10.15am on Wednesday, have been postponed to 1pm and 4pm respectively, subject to acceptable test results for samples collected on Tuesday evening.
The results for these samples are expected by Wednesday morning, said World Aquatics.
On Tuesday, the women’s 10km race was postponed just hours before it was set to begin, with organisers saying that the water quality levels did not meet “acceptable thresholds” as a result of an analysis of samples taken last Sunday.
The race, originally slated for 8am on Tuesday, was pushed back to Wednesday morning.
World Aquatics executive director Brent Nowicki said later on Tuesday afternoon that elevated levels of the E. coli bacteria were responsible for the race postponement. He added that the source of the contamination had yet to be determined.
E. coli are bacteria typically found in the intestines of humans and animals. Common symptoms of ingesting a pathogenic strain of E. coli include vomiting and diarrhoea.
Mr Nowicki said World Aquatics adheres to “acceptable limits” set by the World Health Organization and that tests are outsourced to “outside testing agencies” to ensure rigour and independence.
Tests conducted in the weeks and months leading up to the event had shown results within “acceptable limits”, he added.
Sentosa is the venue for the high diving and open water swimming events at the Championships.
The competition features four other sports – swimming, water polo, diving and artistic swimming.
This is the first time the sporting event, which started on Jul 11 and ends on Aug 3, has been hosted by a Southeast Asian nation.
