The first athlete to be chosen for the Great Britain team has told Sky Sports News HQ that the debris and pollution in the sailing venue at the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games “is a problem” and that British athletes are taking all necessary precautions to avoid getting sick.
London 2012 Paralympic gold medallist Helena Lucas was named on Wednesday as the first athlete to be named in the British team for the 2016 Rio Paralympics.
She became the first British athlete to win a sailing medal since the sport was introduced to the Paralympics in 2000 with her victory nearly three years ago.
Her selection means she can now spend the next year training heavily in Guanabara Bay in Rio, where the sailing will be held in August and September 2016.
But the venue has come under heavy criticism, being called an “open sewer” by some sailors, due to the high level of pollution and debris. The Rio state government promised to reduce the flow of raw sewage flowing into the bay by 80% but has since admitted that goal is unlikely to be met.
Earlier this month 32 tonnes of dead fish were also cleared out of another Rio Games venue, where the rowing and canoeing events will take place.
Paralympic champion Lucas said: “We were out there in November and I was interested to see what would happen to me. Would I turn green or something?
"To be honest we were very very careful in terms of hygiene, taking vitamins, drinking coke when we came in, to limit exposure of what was in water and none of us got sick but it is a problem and something that we very much need to bear in mind. I did see that they were making an effort to clean up rubbish on streets, as when it rains it all washes into the harbour.”
Paralympics GB Chef de Mission Penny Briscoe said that Great Britain is trying to put pressure on the Brazilian organisers to improve the situation.
“We’ve been to Guanabara Bay to the sailing venue and it’s well documented, in terms of some of the challenges there, in terms of water quality and debris in water”, she said.
'Pressure'
“That’s the current situation and what we are trying to do is put pressure on to ensure that it improves as it gets closer to the Games. We have the test events coming up in August and that’s a moment in time when we can really start to ask those questions and hopefully the organising committee will respond to the questions being asked.
The Paralympics chief said the cluster of test events happening this year would also be a good chance to scrutinise the general progress of Rio 2016 organisers.
She said: “Five hundred days to go and I think what we saw when we were there a few weeks ago was significant progress around the village. Rio’s statistic is that they are 75% complete and it certainly looked that way.
"They’ve still got a lot to do with a number of the venues. We were out in Deodora where sports like equestrian are going to be happening and we didn’t seem quite as much progress, but it is work in progress and the preparedness of the organising committee will come under scrutiny in the coming months as we’ve got a very comprehensive series of test events and I think that’s a great place for us and organising committee to be.
"We will be scrutinising them but they will also be scrutinising themselves. The Brazilians really want to deliver a great Games. “
Despite the problems with the venue, Helena Lucas said her early selection would be a huge advantage for her in training.
"I can now focus on Rio and the conditions out there rather than concentrating selection," she added.
“Rio is quite a different venue from Weymouth and Portland. It’s very very tricky If you look at the typography or the area, it is all high rise buildings and mountains, which play havoc with the wind.
"The tide doesn’t just come in and out, it does all sorts of things so it’s really, really important for the sailors to get out there and spend time on water and try and work out any patterns there are in the wind and tide.
"It’s a huge advantage to be selected so early so I can focus on being in venue and spending time there so that will give me a big advantage over my competitors.”