With a large Island presence expected next year in Rio, health is turning into a topic of discussion among those who will be involved in water sports at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympic and Paralympics.
Open-water 10K swimmer Richard Weinberger, who came out of the Victoria Pacific Coast/UVic Swim Club to win a breakout bronze medal at the 2012 London Summer Olympics, qualified for the Rio Olympics with a top-10 finish at the recent world championships in Russia and would be among the athletes most affected by any water quality issues. But he is not concerned.
鈥淚 am not worried at all,鈥� said Weinberger.
鈥淭he media has really built this up and I feel they are just looking for stories.聽The open-water venue is in the ocean and we will be swimming in the waters of a popular Brazilian beach [Copacabana]. I have a few close friends and competitors who are Brazilian and say the open-water venue, where the triathlon pre-Olympic race was just swum, is clean. All the readings of 鈥榬aw sewage quality water鈥� was taken from the lake and no one will be swimming in it.鈥�
Among those who took part in the Rio triathlon test event this month and swam in the Copacabana venue was Commonwealth Games medallist Kirsten Sweetland of Victoria, who was top Canadian woman in 22nd place. The Claremont grad did not mention any concerns about the swim portion of the triathlon, except for the temperature.
鈥淚t was really important for me to have a good swim and assess the bike course to see how hard it is,鈥� said Sweetland, in a statement.
鈥淚 felt really good and strong which will boost my confidence and help me in the future. I was thinking about it [the heat]. On the bike course it is hard because your core temp is already up. I have fainted before the finish line in an Olympic qualifier before so it was good to get to the other side of the line. If I could make a course myself, it would be something like this one in Rio, so I鈥檓 looking forward to the year ahead.鈥�
If the open water and triathlon athletes feel safe, the rowing venue remains controversial after 11 American athletes and four coaches became ill following last week鈥檚 world junior championships in Rio, the official test event.
鈥淭he [Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon Olympic rowing] lake is pretty bad, and I am sure the Brazilian Olympic committee are looking for ways to clean up the lake before the Olympic completion starts,鈥� added Weinberger.聽
There has been much debate over the source of the illnesses experienced by the American rowers.
The Canadian junior rowing team in Rio 鈥� which included Sydney Payne, Yvonne Anguelov and Elliot Rogers from Brentwood College and Isaac Donaldson and Liam Keane of Victoria City Club 鈥� was fine and experienced no ill effects.
Husband-and-wife sailors John McRoberts and Jackie Gay of Victoria will represent sa国际传媒 in the Rio Paralympics next year and are anxious to get their first experience on the Olympic/Paralympic sailing course on Guanabara Bay during the pre-Games regatta beginning Sept. 6.
鈥淚 am concerned and have been following all the reports,鈥� said McRoberts, a member of the Royal Victoria Yacht Club, who became a quadriplegic with limited arm use, after diving into Lake Erie at age 18 and hitting his head on a sand bar.
鈥淲e will get our immune systems as strong as possible. You have to be careful. That鈥檚 the last thing you need after four years of training,鈥� said McRoberts, who won bronze at Beijing in 2008 and placed fourth at London in 2012.
鈥淗opefully, the public pressure will do something. We will know more when we get down to Rio next month [for the Games test sailing event].鈥�
