Pan Pacs Open Water Postponed Until Junior Pan Pacs Due to Water Quality Issues

Photo Courtesy: Griffin Scott

Editorial coverage for the Pan Pacific Championships is proudly sponsored by Master Spas! For complete coverage of the Pan Pacific Championships, check out our event landing page.

GOLD COAST, Australia, August 24.

Monday’s 10km open water events at the Hancock Prospecting 2014 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships have been postponed due to poor water quality at two Gold Coast venues.

The event will now be swum in conjunction with the Junior Pan Pacs in Maui on August 31.

Organisers investigated a move from Marine Stadium, Southport to Lake Hugh Muntz,  after strong winds and heavy rain caused concerns with the water quality.

But results of tests carried out on the back-up venue, Lake Hugh Muntz on Saturday came back 24 hours later with borderline levels.

After consultation with the four charter nations, USA, Japan and Canada, host nation Australia was not prepared to risk the health and safety of the athletes.

Swimming Australia CEO Mark Anderson said it was a most unfortunate situation which unfolded over the past week, especially for the athletes, who had prepared for swimming the open water contest.

“For the international teams, athletes and their families it’s a long way to come not to get a swim and we regret this situation occurring.

“We are sincerely apologetic but we were unfortunately left with no alternative but to make the call to cancel,” said Mr Anderson.

“The heavy, consistent rain fall that fell on the Gold Coast this week has caused increased pollution in the water ways and lakes.

“The wind and rain forced us to look for another venue when Marine Stadium became an issue and when the results came back from tests carried out at our contingency venue at Lake Hugh Muntz they were not consistent with the water quality levels required to stage a major international open water competition.”

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World. To reach our audience, contact us at newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x