Shanghai swimming water "too hot"

Shanghai swimming water "too hot"

Shanghai swimming water "too hot". Swimming's governing body has been criticised for allowing the 25km open water races at the World Championships in Shanghai to go ahead, despite the water being "too hot and dangerous".Of 35 men entered in the race, only 19 finished, with 10 pulling out before the end. Six decided not to start.
At the start of the races the water was 30.5C - just within the safety limit.

Fina President Julio Maglione said: "All necessary safety measures were taken within the regulations."American swimmer Fran Crippen died last October in hot conditions during a 10km event in the United Arab Emirates.

An investigation into Crippen's death found a number of safety concerns surrounding the staging of open water events.

The extremely high temperatures in China forced the sport's governing body Fina to bring forward the start of the men's and women's races by two hours, to 0600 local time.

But this was not enough for Crippen's friend and USA team-mate Alex Meyer, who refused to participate in the event, held off the Jinshan City Beach in the sprawling Shanghai conurbation.

Another American swimmer, Claire Thompson, did start the women's race but was instructed to get out of the water by US officials when their tests showed the water temperature to be 32.6C.

Seven other women retired from the race.