Lynne Cox Op-ed in the NYT About Rio Water Quality
NoelFigart
Lebanon, NHSenior Member
NoelFigart
Lebanon, NHSenior Member
NoelFigart
Lebanon, NHSenior Member
Comments
Read the comments...
There are two.. one from Lynne and one from Steve.
@suziedods I can't find the comments for this article.
@rosemarymint try this link https://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/news/lynne-cox-famed-open-water-swimmer-authors-opinion-piece-in-ny-times-regarding-rio-waters/
And under the follow the money rule which of the two commentators has the most $$$ at stake?
Thanks @lakespray!
And wow. I'd like to say I'm shocked, except I'm not.
Add your opinion:
https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10153431101227397&id=504377396
As we discussed on FB, @DanSimonelli, even if one is a FB friend with Lynne, that link of yours doesn't work.
Everyone should comment on Lynne's article here at Swimming World: https://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/news/lynne-cox-famed-open-water-swimmer-authors-opinion-piece-in-ny-times-regarding-rio-waters/
No idea why NYT doesn't have a comments section.
We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams
Thanks @IronMike !
Just read your blog.
There's "the one"!
Move the fkn venue.
Individual experience isn't a substitute for science. The plural of "anecdote" isn't "data."
This. So much, this.
What I also find really interesting in that thread is the claims of discrimination and bias against the Brazilians. If you grow up being exposed to certain things, such as sewage contaminated water, your immune system is better able to handle it. If you are someone who has never been exposed repeatedly to contaminated water, your immune system basically has zero defense. So all the swimmers coming from countries that have high(er) water quality standards (yes, including even NYC with its combined sewer overflows after heavy rains) you are much much more likely to become ill if you are exposed to the contaminated water.
Hence my query about any records of athletes in other events held there who had any ill effects after exposure.
I've only read about the anecdotal negative,
i.e., many have swim there and haven't gotten sick.
Well, it begs the question:
Have there been any who have?!
A newly released article on the topic.......
http://dailynews.openwaterswimming.com/2016/05/if-not-copacabana-beach-then-where.html?m=1
Wasn't there the story of the rowing team who all got sick? And some sailors?
We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams
Are there reasonably safe alternative locations nearby or even within Brazil? Yes, it may be that people can swim or boat at the current site w/o incident, but with so many cases of illness, including career ending illness, it makes sense to err on the side of caution.
That close? Then why not move the venue!
Because of negative geotrophism. They curve away from the ground and upwards to capture more sunlight.
More press on the water situation in Rio
We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams
Poor Brazil. I also heard a report that the olympic village isn't up to functioning properly
Poor Brazil?! They had plenty of time to get everything fixed. I feel bad for the athletes, especially the aquatic athletes having to decide between Olympic gold and their health.
We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams
More wonderful press on the water quality in Rio.
We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams
In all fairness, building modern infrastructure to clean up their pollution problems takes decades. Heck, most big coastal cities in the US still have combined sewers and it's taken 20-30 years under the clean water act to get water quality mostly swimmable.
I'm still stunned the IOC believed it was possible under the timeline and financial constraints in the first place. Brazil really sold them a bill of goods.
I am and I'm not, all at the same time. When Brazil was awarded the olympics and the world cup, their economy was riding the oil bubble to very profitable times. There was talk of Brazil being the next big player on the world economy, and they seemed to be doing well. (One can question the wisdom of spending all that money on the events in question, but that's a big tangential). The technology exists to solve the problem (all be it at a price), and there were, what, 7 years left to install the solutions?
Fastforward to 2014. Oil drops to $30/bbl, and countries who are reliant on commodity pricing for success, and haven't prepared for bottom of cycle economics are all of a sudden in a major financial pinch (see: Venezuela and to some extent Russia).
I don't really disagree that Brazil sold a bit of a bill of goods, but when they were awarded the games, it seemed like they had the financial stability to fix a lot of the problems.
Expert to Rio athletes: ‘Don’t put your head under water’
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/old/expert-to-rio-athletes-dont-put-your-head-under-water/article31217587/
"...the Olympics’ adviser on health matters, the World Health Organization, said it would carry out its own viral testing in Rio’s Olympic waterways. The agency later flip-flopped, finally concluding that bacterial tests alone would suffice."
Wow. I wonder what could make the WHO flip like that.
Another perspective: How sick could you actually get from drinking the (Rio) water.
We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams
I read these two things:
Rio 2016: Swimmers need to ingest only three teaspoons of water to be almost certain of contracting a virus
and: “It’s all the water from the toilets and the showers and whatever people put down their sinks, all mixed up, and it’s going out into the beach waters,”
Huh.
Canada’s chief medical officer trusts Brazilian data on water quality
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/olympics/canadas-chief-medical-officer-trusts-brazilian-data-on-water-quality/article31268838/
Though it doesn’t mean Rio’s reputation for dirty water will no longer apply, it means the picture looks a bit better than it did. “At the moment … it’s better than it has been in the past,” he said.
“Looking at the water-quality reports, which we’ve continued to monitor closely, the water quality for the open-water swim and triathlon is excellent. It’s as good as the water in most of Canada. It meets all international standards,” McCormack said.
“The testing that’s been done has shown that the things we do to measure quality – the coliform counts, the E. coli counts – meet all international standards. I’m from Vancouver, if I went swimming in False Creek or in English Bay, I’d have the same potential risk of getting sick of swimming. The risks are low.”