[MichaelBurjack]

In addition to physical issues raised (7ft depth, configuration of sides), I wonder if there might be any other reasons that aren't mentioned at all in the article…

Something causing these elite athletes to be a bit off their game? Whatever could it possibly be…

- https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2024/07/31/us...

- https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/uk-news/team-gb-swimmer-m...

- https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/jul/30/paris-...

- https://svenska.yle.fi/a/7-10061397

Yup, no idea. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[khuey]

That's not a very satisfying explanation because everyone seems to be slow and it's pretty unlikely that everyone has COVID.

[MichaelBurjack]

Covid is a highly contagious virus that spreads and lingers in the air, and we have athletes in close quarters without any virus control procedures [1] (other than the Olympic organizers providing hand sanitizer [2], which is an odd choice for airborne virus prevention).

Given lack of testing and that many countries (including European countries) are seeing Covid surges right now, I think it's highly likely that most competitors are competing with either current or recent Covid infections affecting their peak performance capacity.

Edit: I wouldn't suggest it's the sole cause of performance issues. But for an entire article on the topic of swim performance to completely ignore multiple reports of viral infection from top performers seems a glaring omission.

-----

1: "The 29-year-old does not have to isolate from other athletes and does not have to test negative before competing again": https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/40672610/olympics-2...

2: "For now, nothing has been put into place by the organizing committee … but hand sanitizer is available in its clinics and restaurants.": https://www.cbsnews.com/news/2024-paris-olympics-covid-cases...

[Flop7331]

The Olympic Villages are notorious for being germfests.

[MichaelBurjack]

Now up to at least 11 known aquatic competitors [1]. And most teams aren't testing — for example, Australia brought their own PCR machine; nothing has been provided by the Olympic organizers.

[1]: https://swimswam.com/swimmers-pieroni-and-gatt-join-the-covi...

[outside1234]

Let's also not forget doping. Chinese swimmers noticeably slower this year than last olympics in particular. Wonder why that is?