The World Aquatics Championships women's open water 10km race at Sentosa has been postponed as water quality failed to meet "acceptable thresholds", according to a statement by the organisers on Tuesday (July 15).

This is due to E. coli bacteria levels in the water at Sentosa exceeding acceptable standards, reported CNA.

The incident appears to be isolated as testing has been "very sound and solid along the way", said World Aquatics executive director Brent Nowicki, adding that the source of the anomaly has yet to be determined.

Initially scheduled to kick off at 8am on Tuesday, the event will now take place on Wednesday at 10.15am, said the organisers in a press release in the early hours of Tuesday.

The decision was made in the "utmost interest of athlete safety", after reviews by representatives from World Aquatics, the Singapore 2025 Organising Committee, the World Aquatics Sports Medicine Committee, and the World Aquatics Open Water Swimming Technical Committee.

"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," said World Aquatics.

And the decision to postpone racing was "made in the best interests of athlete health and safety", said the organisers. 

The organisers said they will continue conducting water tests to determine whether conditions are safe enough to proceed with the remaining events as scheduled. 

Open water swimming

Open water swimming is a sport that involves swimming in an outdoor body of water, such as oceans, lakes and rivers. Unlike swimming in a pool, athletes are exposed to external factors like weather, waves and undercurrents. 

Additionally, bodies of water have to undergo testing for bacteria and pH levels before being deemed safe to swim in.

Last year, the 2024 Paris Olympics were also affected by poor water quality when E. coli levels in the Seine River exceeded safe levels, causing the men's triathlon race to be postponed.

Singapore is the host of this year's World Aquatics Championships which began on July 11, and has a 72-strong team of athletes representing the nation across all six sports.

Singaporean athletes Chantal Liew and Kate Ona will be competing in the open water 10km race, along with 67 other athletes from around the world. 

dana.leong@asiaone.com

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