South African swimming championship cut short by water

SOUTH Africa’s national swimming championships had to be postponed after getting under way in murky green water, which made swimmers ill. The shambles has affected Olympic champions Chad le Clos and Cameron van der Burgh’s efforts to qualify for this year’s world championships as they waited two days for organisers to fix a broken filter pipes that sullied the water at the Newton Park pool.

Olympic medalist Roland Schoeman wrote on Twitter that a doctor had told him that the dirty water had caused his ear infections.

The nationals began on Monday in the dirty water but were postponed on Tuesday because of poor visibility and again on Wednesday after another pipe burst.

Officials plan to continue the championships on Thursday, with all events changed to “timed finals.” That means competitors will swim only once in each event, with the best time winning the title.

Van der Burgh and Schoeman both posted photos on Twitter of the water in the pool. Schoeman later said he had gone to the nearby Greenacres Hospital because of problems with his ears after swimming on Monday.

“Doc says direct result of the water,” Schoeman tweeted of his ear problems, for which he has been prescribed antibiotics.