RIO DE JANEIRO — The water quality controversy surrounding the Rio Olympics extended to the indoor Aquatics Center on Thursday when an Australian swimming coach refused to let his athletes practice in the main Games training pool due to fears of infection.
Michael Bohl, one of the leading coaches on Australian team, became concerned when he saw the training pool in Barra da Tijuca become “cloudy” and “soupy” during the afternoon, less than two days before the start of the swimming program.
Bohl’s group, which included backstroke world champion Mitch Larkin and butterflyers Emma McKeon and Grant Irvine, had booked a session in the training pool and would have had uninterrupted use of it.