Poor water quality off Sentosa delays World Aquatics women’s 10km open water race hours before start
The World Aquatics Championships’ 10km open water swimming event in Singapore saw a sudden change in schedule on Tuesday (15 July). Poor water quality off Sentosa forced organisers to postpone the race by a day.
The announcement came less than eight hours before the race was due to begin at 8am, affecting 69 athletes who had been scheduled to compete, reported The Straits Times.
Source: World Aquatics Championships on Instagram
The event will now take place on Wednesday (16 July), on the same day as the men’s 10km race.
“The decision was made to postpone the race in the utmost interest of athlete safety,” a statement by the World Aquatics read.
Sentosa water quality failed on 13 July despite earlier clear tests
In the statement, World Aquatics said that the decision was made after a review involving representatives from four agencies:
- World Aquatics
- Singapore 2025 Organising Committee
- World Aquatics Sports Medicine Committee
- World Aquatics Open Water Swimming Technical Committee
Source: World Aquatics
“While testing in recent days has consistently shown water quality at the venue to meet World Aquatics’ acceptable thresholds, analysis of samples taken on 13 July surpassed these thresholds,” the statement said.
The governing body stressed that athlete health and safety remained a top priority.
Other World Aquatics Championships open water races in Sentosa to continue as scheduled
For now, the rest of the open water programme is expected to proceed as scheduled.
Source: World Aquatics website
Water quality monitoring will continue, and World Aquatics said it will reassess conditions ahead of each race.
Not the first time water quality issues have disrupted global sport
This is not the first major sporting event impacted by water quality issues.
At the 2024 Paris Olympics, the men’s triathlon was postponed after pollution levels in River Seine were found to be unsafe for swimming.
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Featured image adapted from World Aquatics Championships on Instagram and World Aquatics.
