Are they taking the… sewage?
Friday, 31st July 2015When I pondered around the net earlier today, it seems the latest Sailing news includes the gory fact that independent news reports from Brazil suggest that the area where the sailing competition will be held is currently little more than a waste-ground.
And, regrettably, I don’t mean a waste-ground in the sense of a disused warehouse with a handful of forgotten tyres and a few dead shrubs – I mean an actual area full of the worst kind of waste you can probably imagine. Or there abouts. It may not be nuclear, but it’s certainly toxic enough to leave anyone who swims in it reeling for a few days in hospital.
The Brazilian bid team had grand plans to clean up the whole area, from stopping raw sewage from entering the bay right through to importing delightful wee fishies who would come and help deal with some of the organic matter. Sadly, they haven’t arrived, and, with project deadlines slipping, and the Olympic games getting ever nearer (Just over a year to go now, people!), surely something has to move soon?
At the moment, the most recent tests showed that there are viruses galore at all watersports venues – but far from developing quick action plans, the latest statements from Brazil included recommending that competitors head out to Rio early so that they expose themselves to the viruses and acclimatise to them?!!
Quite what the likes of the professional sailing community will make of that advice remains to be seen!
In every could, there is a silver lining, and I guess there is a part of me now that is glad that, way back when I was 12 years old, I made a mess of a ridiculously simple sailing course, and didn’t get called up to (anywhere near) the Olympic team…
Maybe I knew what was best after all!
