Rio 2016 - Lars Grael talks trash and Guanabara Bay

by Reuters on 14 Aug 2016 Lars Grael, twice an Olympic bronze medallist for Brazil, feared that sailors would encounter garbage and plastic bags in races at the Guanabara Bay sailing venue on Friday. [Ed: we haven’t heard of any untoward incidents, which of course is a good thing.]

Falling tides will drain race courses and rain, which had already begun falling on Friday morning, risked bringing debris along the lines of currents, Grael said about a stretch of water he has sailed on for nearly half a century. 'I'm worried about tomorrow and boats getting caught on plastic bags or banging into garbage,' he told Reuters at the Marina da Gloria venue. 'Conditions will be perfect for that. Organisers will have to work extra hard to pick up the trash.'

Grael, 52, who won medals in the discontinued Tornado-class catamaran at the 1988 Seoul and 1996 Atlanta Olympics, wanted Olympic sailing held in the cleaner waters and steadier winds of Buzios, three hours drive north of Rio de Janeiro.

Water pollution has been a hot topic in Rio and has dogged Games organisers since they were awarded hosting rights seven years ago. Promises to clean up the bay by building new sewers and sewage treatment plants and collecting tons of garbage washed into it by rain remain largely unmet. While studies have found high levels of disease-causing pathogens in the Bay, Rio's organising committee and World Sailing, the sport's governing body, said on Wednesday they review daily government water tests.

The test show, they say, that the courses are within World Health Organization limits for safe 'primary contact' such as swimming. Sailing is considered less-risky 'secondary contact.' Cases of sick sailors have been rare and the true source of illness hard to prove. On Thursday, though, the coach of Belgian Laser Radial Sailor Evi van Acker said her doctors suspect bay water caused an infection that has seriously hampered the London 2012 bronze-medallist's energy and performance. [Ed: Evi van Acker bounced back in yesterday’s (Saturday) racing]

Still, most Olympic sailors interviewed by Reuters over the past two years, including Grael, consider the health risks overblown and say water quality has improved. They do worry, though, that competition will be skewed by garbage. 'I lost the battle for Buzios,' Grael said. 'I love Guanabara Bay, sailed it since childhood with no health problems - perhaps it vaccinated us - but the trash could cause big problems Friday.'

[Ed: No problems reported so far, so Guanabara Bay will probably be remembered as a spectacular, tricky, game-levelling and thoroughly funky series of race courses. But surely the real point is that the concern should never have existed in the first place?]