Tokyo Water Quality Fails To Meet FINA & ITU Standards

Tokyo Water Quality Fails To Meet FINA & ITU Standards

A survey revealed that water quality at Tokyo 2020 venue in Tokyo Bay does not meet FINA or ITU standards.

Oct 5, 2017 by Maclin Simpson
Tokyo Water Quality Fails To Meet FINA & ITU Standards
Here we go again...

As reported by Inside The Games, a water quality assessment of the Tokyo Bay conducted to mimic the 21 days of competition at the 2020 Olympic Games and five days of competition at the Paralympic Games​ revealed the quality only matched FINA standards on 10 days and ITU (International Triathlon Union) standards on six days.

The Tokyo Bay is set to be the location of 10K open water race and the swimming leg of the triathlon in 2020.


More specifically, the results showed E. Coli levels greater than 20 times the accepted limit and fecal coliform bacteria seven times higher than the acceptable limit.

What did IOC Coordination Commission chairman ​John Coates​ have to say about the assessment? The readings "were not what they should be." Gee, you think?

What did FINA have to say?

"FINA took note today of the Tokyo 2020 announcement of the water quality test results in Odaiba," FINA said in a statement. "As the world governing body for aquatic sports, FINA will keep working closely with the Tokyo Metropolitan government and Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee to ensure the best available venue and environment for the marathon swimming events in 2020."

In short: deflect with a well-formed sentence devoid of a legitimate answer. Political correctness at its finest.

The organizing committee has pledged to put water quality improvements, such as the installation of underwater screens, into action leading into the 2020 Games so that the venue "satisfies all relevant International Federation standards."

Just to reiterate: Tokyo 2020 organizers want to improve water quality so that the venue "satisfies all relevant International Federation standards," not -- first and foremost -- for the safety of the athletes who will be competing in the water. Interesting.

Local organizers cited heavy rainfall in August as the reason for falling short of a passing grade.

A statement by organizers noted, "In August 2017, there was rainfall in the Tokyo area on 21 consecutive days, the second-highest number of consecutive days of rain recorded in August since 1977."

Fortunately, there is still time to proactively create a solution. Will we see another debacle similar to the leadup to Rio? Stay tuned.