Lynne Cox wrote a nice opinion piece on water quality and safety of swimmers, triathletes and sailors at Guanabara Bay and Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro. One conclusion to avoid viral or bacterial infections could be a very bold move by organizers of 2016 Olympic Games and country of Brazil:
"The president of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, has said that “the competition area for the athletes will offer safe and fair conditions.” It is the committee’s responsibility to ensure this is so. The aquatic events must be moved to safe, clean waters — and if that can’t be found in Brazil, they must be transferred to another country.
While there is no modern precedent for a binational Olympics, and the committee’s charter may forbid them, such a move may be the only solution, short of canceling these races. But that would shatter the dreams of athletes who have trained most of their lives to reach the Olympic Games. They deserve a chance to compete where the water won’t hurt them."
