AP Investigation Reveals Olympic Athletes Will Swim in ‘Raw Sewage’ in Rio Waterways

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“The test results found high counts of active and infectious human adenoviruses, which multiply in the intestinal and respiratory tracts of people,” according to the AP investigation. “These are viruses that are known to cause respiratory and digestive illnesses, including explosive diarrhea and vomiting, but can also lead to more serious heart, brain and other diseases.”

“Everybody runs the risk of infection in these polluted waters,” Dr. Carlos Terra, a Rio-based doctor, told the AP.

“If I were going to be in the Olympics,” said Griffith, “I would probably go early and get exposed and build up my immunity system to these viruses before I had to compete, because I don’t see how they’re going to solve this sewage problem.”

Dangerous Raw Sewage Levels For Summer Olympic Waters In Rio http://t.co/xJS8D7TLf7 #Rio2016 #RioDeJaneiro pic.twitter.com/dlVGJUjr9Z

— DiplyNews (@DiplyNews) July 30, 2015

Government officials have jumped into the water where athletes will be competing to show that it is perfectly safe. The problem is that foreigners will not have the built up immunity to these bacteria and viruses. Ivan Bulaja, the Croatian-born coach of Austria’s 49er-class sailing team, can confirm that. “This is by far the worst water quality we’ve ever seen in our sailing careers,” Bulaja told the AP. Several members of his team have been out for multiple days after falling ill with vomiting and diarrhea.

The problem has been well known for years. The New York Times highlighted Rio’s awful water quality last year. And the issue dates back even further. Rio’s waste management crisis has spiraled out of control with the city’s rampant population growth in recent decades. Despite the Brazilian government’s promise to improve the city’s waterways ahead of the games through a $4 billion government expansion of basic sanitation infrastructure, there is “very little to show for it,” reports the AP.

“Brazilian authorities promised the moon in order to win their Olympic bid and as usual they’re not making good on those promises,” Mario Moscatelli, a biologist who has spent 20 years lobbying for a cleanup of Rio’s waterways, told the AP. “I’m sad but not surprised.”

Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes told the AP the Olympic games have been “a wasted opportunity” as far as efforts to clean up the waterways are concerned.

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