E. coli causes second delay to open water swim events

The start times of the men and women's 10km open water swimming events at the World Aquatics Championships have been pushed back due to "unacceptable water quality results", organisers announced on July 15 evening.

- Kimberly Kwek

The start times of the men and women's 10km open water swimming events at the World Aquatics Championships have been pushed back due to "unacceptable water quality results," organisers announced on July 15 evening.

The women's 10km event was initially scheduled for July 15. After water samples drawn at the race site off Sentosa two days prior showed "exceeding levels" of the Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria, it was moved to July 16, 10:15 am, about three hours after the men's 10km race.

But while the latest set of results from a sample taken on July 15 morning showed that water quality has improved, the levels are still above "acceptable thresholds." Hence, the men and women's races have been pushed to 1 pm and 4 pm respectively on July 16.

Another test was done at 5 pm on July 15, with results expected to come in the following morning, which will determine whether the afternoon races can proceed.

In its statement, World Aquatics said: "Regular water quality monitoring and testing continues throughout the competition period to ensure athlete safety, with the health and safety of all participants continuing to guide all competition-related decisions."

In an earlier media interview on July 15, World Aquatics executive director Brent Nowicki said the initial postponement was prompted by a test conducted on July 13 that revealed elevated E. coli levels.

E. coli is a bacteria commonly found in the intestines of people and animals. While most strains are harmless, some can cause serious illness such as diarrhoea, urinary tract infections, pneumonia and sepsis.