If one were to walk into the Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre on Tuesday for the women's synchronised 10m platform final, that person would have been in for a massive shock. The water in the pool had turned green overnight. Not that a hue of green was infused with the usual azure – it was bright swampy green. The said person would have been forgiven for rubbing his eyes in disbelief, but the pool was to remain of the colour seen more usually in marshy ponds than pools of international sports events.
As the disbelief spread and various theories began doing the rounds, most notably that somebody had urinated in the pool, the Rio 2016 Local Organizing Committee came up with an explanation. They said that the green colour had been probably caused due to a proliferation of algae caused by the heat and lack of wind in the venue. Further investigations were ongoing, they also said.
However, the adjacent pool at the aquatics center, where water polo is being contested, was of the usual blue colour. This makes the organisers’ explanation slightly dubious, because both pools must be experiencing similar conditions.
Past Olympic swimmers have let known their disbelief at what they have seen. Health concerns for swimmers have been brushed aside by the organisers, but it remains a possibility that some disturbing sanitary miscarriage is afoot in the Brazilian pool, even if the urine theory is discounted.
Various other theories have also been seen on the internet, and these are only bound to get weirder and more speculative the longer the pool remains green. More than 24 hours later, the colour of the pool continues to be green.
Update:
The mystery only seems to be deepening.
