The water in the Olympic diving pool was bright green, baffling at least one diver who said she couldn’t see her partner underwater and sparking questions about what went wrong.
The mysterious shade of the Rio pool, which hosts diving and waterpolo events, generated jokes about algae and dye on social media and overshadowed the women’s 10 meter platform final.
British diver Tonia Couch said the pool’s water was so green she couldn’t see her partner Lois Toulson underwater, The Times said on Twitter.
The problem may come from a faulty filter or problematic water quality, the executive director of swimming’s world governing body FINA told Reuters.
“No danger for divers, just not a good image for Olympic Broadcasting Services,” said FINA’s Cornel Marculescu, adding he was not sure how quickly the pool could be brought back to its normal hue.
The problem comes on top of worries over dangerous levels of pollution in Rio’s Guanabara Bay and concerns that floating garbage could damage or slow sailors.
The pool’s water was perfectly blue during the men’s 10 meter platform event on Monday.
In Tuesday’s green pool, China’s Chen Ruolin and Liu Huixia claimed gold, with Malaysia and Canada respectively taking the silver and bronze medals.
Still, some divers shrugged off the color change.
“Why does everyone ask about the water?” said Malaysian diver Pandelela Rinong. “It’s really normally for an outdoor pool so it’s not a big deal for us.”

Source: Arab News