Canadian swimmers pull out over hot water
TAIPEI, Taiwan — Canada’s open water swimmers won’t compete at the Summer Universiade because of unusually hot water temperatures.
The open water marathon race was scheduled for early Sunday morning, but Swimming Canada said a temperature measurement fell outside the maximum allowable range of 31 C established by FINA.
“Safety is always my first concern, and it’s been the primary area of discussion since our arrival,” Swimming Canada’s open water coach Mark Perry said in a statement.
“We have a very comprehensive Red-Amber-Green rated safety system that we use to assess all safety issues before making a decision on whether it’s safe for our athletes to compete. In this case, we feel the conditions warrant withdrawing from the race.”
Swimming Canada CEO Ahmed El-Awadi said the sport’s national governing body supported the staff’s decision to withdraw the athletes.
“The reality is you cannot control the weather and we are not willing to place our athletes at risk,” El-Awadi said.
The Canadian Press