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Water in Rio’s Olympics Diving Pool Has Inexplicably Turned Green

General view of the diving pool at Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre on Day 4 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre on August 9, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
View of the diving pool at Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre on day four of the 2016 Olympic Games on Aug. 9, 2016, in Rio de Janeiro.Adam Pretty/Getty Images

Yikes! The water in Rio’s Olympics diving pool inexplicably turned green on Tuesday, August 9.

Related: PHOTOS: Olympic Athletes: Where Are They Now?

The water, which was a crystal-clear light blue for the men’s diving events on Monday, August 8, transitioned into a murky shade of green by Tuesday when female Olympians were set to compete.

Related: PHOTOS: Olympic Athletes Turned TV and Movie Stars

Though the green water didn’t stop China’s Chen Ruolin and Liu Huixia from winning gold on Tuesday, Olympic organizers, the media and even Olympians are perturbed by the unaccountable change in color. 

General view of the diving pool at Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre on Day 4 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games on August 9, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The diving pool at Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre on day four of the Olympic Games on Aug. 9, 2016, in Rio de Janeiro. Adam Pretty/Getty Images

London Evening Standard sports writer Matt Majendie said that an Olympics official told him that the water “wasn’t green this morning.”

Many have hypothesized that the cause of the water turning green is an increase in algae, which can often happen when a pool is not treated with an adequate amount of chlorine.

Related: PHOTOS: Olympians' Darkest Secrets

Great Britain’s Olympic diving champion Tom Daley took to Twitter on Tuesday to share his surprise at the pool’s blue-to-green transition. “Ermmm…what happened?!” he wrote.

Despite the discoloration, event organizers said that the water was completely safe to swim in. “The water quality at the Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre was tested and there were no risks for the athletes. We are investigating the cause,” the Olympic Committee stated on Tuesday.

 

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