Latest news with #BrentNowicki
Online Citizen
17 hours ago
- Sport
- Online Citizen
World Aquatics Championships open water races to proceed after E. coli concerns ease
SINGAPORE: The World Aquatics Championships open water events at Sentosa will proceed today (16 July) after fresh water tests confirmed safe conditions, World Aquatics announced on 16 July 2025. In its latest statement, the sport's governing body confirmed that samples taken on 15 July 2025 have met the competition's water quality standards. The men's 10km race will begin at 1pm Singapore time, followed by the women's 10km at 4pm. Analysis of three water samples collected along the course at 5pm on 15 July showed E. coli levels ranging from 'good' to 'excellent', according to World Aquatics regulations. Officials had postponed the men's and women's 10km races on Tuesday, citing unacceptable water quality levels. Tests from samples collected last Sunday showed elevated E. coli levels that exceeded safe thresholds. Brent Nowicki, World Aquatics executive director, said the bacteria levels forced organisers to delay the races to safeguard athletes' health. He added that the exact source of contamination remains unclear. E. coli bacteria naturally occur in the intestines of humans and animals but can cause illness if harmful strains are ingested. Symptoms include diarrhoea and vomiting. Nowicki said World Aquatics follows limits set by the World Health Organization and uses independent agencies for testing. In the weeks leading up to the Championships, water samples had met required safety standards. World Aquatics assured participants that regular water quality monitoring would continue throughout the competition to ensure safety. Tickets issued for the original women's 10km race remain valid for today's rescheduled session. Ticketholders seeking refunds must submit requests to Sistic by 20 July 2025. Sentosa is hosting the Championships' high diving and open water events. This edition of the Championships, which began on 11 July and concludes on 3 August 2025, is the first to be held in a Southeast Asian nation. The event also includes swimming, water polo, diving, and artistic swimming.
AsiaOne
a day ago
- Sport
- AsiaOne
World Aquatics Championships' open water races at Sentosa to proceed after 'significant improvement' in water quality, Singapore News
The World Aquatics Championships open water races will proceed as scheduled after a "significant improvement" in water quality at Sentosa, said organisers in a statement on Wednesday (July 16) morning. They stated that water quality tests conducted on Tuesday evening showed levels of E. coli falling between the ranges of "good" to "excellent" according to World Aquatics regulations, allowing the races to resume. The men's and women's 10km open water swimming events will now kick off at 1pm and 4pm respectively, following a postponement announced late on Tuesday due to inadequate water quality. "Regular water quality monitoring and testing continues throughout the competition period to ensure athlete safety, with the health and safety of all participants continuing to guide all competition-related decisions," said the organisers. Water quality concerns Sentosa is the venue for the high diving and open water swimming events at the World Aquatics Championships, which are being held in Singapore for the first time. The first open water swimming event, the women's 10km open water race, had been initially scheduled for Tuesday at 8am and was postponed twice as water quality failed to meet "acceptable thresholds". World Aquatics' executive director Brent Nowicki said that the race postponement was caused by levels of E. coli bacteria in the waters exceeding "acceptable limits", reported CNA on Tuesday. Nowicki also said that the contamination seems to be an isolated incident, as testing prior to the event yielded results within "acceptable limits". [[nid:720221]]
CNA
a day ago
- Sport
- CNA
World Aquatics Championships: Sentosa open water events to begin after 'significant improvement' in water quality
SINGAPORE: The World Aquatics Championships open water events will proceed on Wednesday (Jul 16) afternoon after water quality results showed "significant improvement". In a press release on Wednesday morning, the sport's governing said that the results from three samples taken along the competition course at 5pm on Tuesday showed that levels of E. coli fell to between the ranges of "good" to "excellent" according to World Aquatics and the World Health Organization (WHO) regulations. "Regular water quality monitoring and testing continues throughout the competition period to ensure athlete safety, with the health and safety of all participants continuing to guide all competition-related decisions," said World Aquatics. The men's 10km race and the women's 10km race will be held at 1pm and 4pm respectively. On Tuesday, the women's 10km race was postponed just hours before it was set to begin, with organisers saying that the water quality levels did not meet "acceptable thresholds" as a result of an analysis of samples taken last Sunday. The race, originally slated for 8am on Tuesday, was pushed back to Wednesday morning. World Aquatics executive director Brent Nowicki said later on Tuesday afternoon that elevated levels of the E. coli bacteria were responsible for the race postponement. He added that the source of the contamination had yet to be determined. E. coli are bacteria typically found in the intestines of humans and animals. Common symptoms of ingesting a pathogenic strain of E. coli include vomiting and diarrhoea. Mr Nowicki said World Aquatics adheres to 'acceptable limits' set by the World Health Organization and that tests are outsourced to 'outside testing agencies' to ensure rigour and independence. Tests conducted in the weeks and months leading up to the event had shown results within "acceptable limits", he added. Later on Tuesday, World Aquatics said that water quality results had "improved", but further tests showed that levels still exceeded "acceptable thresholds" after testing conducted earlier in the day. This meant that the men's 10km race and the women's 10km race, which were scheduled for 7.30am and 10.15am on Wednesday, were postponed, subject to acceptable test results for samples collected on Tuesday evening. Sentosa is the venue for the high diving and open water swimming events at the Championships.
CNA
2 days ago
- Sport
- CNA
World Aquatics Championships: Sentosa open water swimming hit by more delays
SINGAPORE: The World Aquatics Championships open water events have been hit by further postponements due to water quality issues remaining unacceptable, said World Aquatics on Tuesday (Jul 15). In a statement, World Aquatics said that while water quality results have "improved", further tests have shown that levels still exceed "acceptable thresholds". This meant that the men's 10km race and the women's 10km race, which were scheduled for 7.30am and 10.15am on Wednesday, were postponed to 1pm and 4pm respectively, subject to acceptable test results for samples collected on Tuesday evening. On Tuesday, the women's 10km race at Sentosa was postponed just hours before it was set to begin, with organisers saying that the water quality levels did not meet "acceptable thresholds" as a result of an analysis of samples taken last Sunday. The race, originally slated for 8am on Tuesday, was moved to 10.15am on Wednesday. The men's race was originally scheduled for 7.30am on Wednesday. World Aquatics executive director Brent Nowicki said later on Tuesday afternoon that elevated levels of the E. coli bacteria were responsible for the race postponement. He added that the source of the contamination had yet to be determined. E. coli are bacteria typically found in the intestines of humans and animals. Common symptoms of ingesting a pathogenic strain of E. coli include vomiting and diarrhoea. Mr Nowicki said World Aquatics adheres to 'acceptable limits' set by the World Health Organization and that tests are outsourced to 'outside testing agencies' to ensure rigour and independence. Tests conducted in the weeks and months leading up to the event had shown results within "acceptable limits", he added. Sentosa is the venue for the high diving and open water swimming events at the Championships. The competition features four other sports - swimming, water polo, diving and artistic swimming.
Straits Times
2 days ago
- Sport
- Straits Times
E. coli bacteria caused open water swimming delay at World Aquatics C'ships, start to be determined
Find out what's new on ST website and app. The pontoon used for the open water venue at the World Aquatics Championships in Sentosa on July 7. SINGAPORE – Tests are underway to determine if water quality at Sentosa meets safety standards, after 'exceeding levels of E. coli' caused the open water swimming competition at the World Aquatics Championships (WCH) to be postponed on July 15. Originally slated to begin on July 15 with the women's 10km race, the competition was delayed by a day after water quality off Sentosa exceeded acceptable thresholds. World Aquatics executive director Brent Nowicki said in a press interview on July 15 that exceeding levels of the bacteria were detected in a test taken on July 13, prompting the postponement. He explained that water samples had been regularly tested for months leading up to the race and previously fell within acceptable limits set by World Aquatics. They were also in line with the standards set by the World Health Organisation. While the sample was taken on July 13, the results returned only on the evening of July 14. The world governing body received the test results at about 9.30pm to 10pm, showing E. coli levels beyond the safety standard. E. coli is a bacteria that lives in the intestines of people and animals and is commonly found in human and animal faeces. While most E. coli are harmless, some can make people sick with diarrhoea, urinary tract infections, pneumonia, sepsis and other illnesses. According to competition regulations by World Aquatics, acceptable E. coli levels for ocean and transitional (tidal) waters must not exceed 250 colony-forming units per 100 millilitres (cfu/ml). Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore $3b money laundering case: MinLaw acts against 4 law firms and 1 lawyer over seized properties Singapore Man charged with attempted murder of woman at Kallang Wave Mall Singapore Ex-cleaner jailed over safety lapses linked to guard's death near 1-Altitude rooftop bar Singapore Real estate firm PropNex donates $6 million to Community Chest for 25th anniversary Singapore Sengkang-Punggol LRT gets 15.8 per cent capacity boost with new trains Singapore Air India crash: SIA, Scoot find no issues with Boeing 787 fuel switches after precautionary checks Singapore $230,000 in fines issued after MOM checks safety at over 500 workplaces from April to June Multimedia From local to global: What made top news in Singapore over the last 180 years? Noting that there is usually a 12 to 24-hour turnaround for test results to come through, he said: 'We don't know why that is the case because testing has been very sound and solid along the way. 'It appears – I'm speculating – to be an isolated incident that happened somewhere on Saturday or Sunday, which caused the spike to happen prior to the test taking place and the results coming to us the way they did.' Upon receiving the results, World Aquatics convened its leadership team, including their sports medical committee and technical committee, to discuss the results. Teams were then informed of the postponement before World Aquatics issued a statement an hour later past midnight. The women's 10km race is now scheduled to take place on July 16 (10.15am), after the men's 10km race which flags off at 7.30am. A total of 69 athletes, including Singapore's Chantal Liew and Kate Ona, are slated to compete in the women's event. The remaining open water events – the men's and women's 5km (July 18), the 3km knock-out sprint (July 19), and the mixed 4x1500m relay (July 20) – are expected to proceed as planned. Another round of water testing was conducted on the morning of July 15, with preliminary results expected in the evening. Racing will proceed as planned if the those results are satisfactory. A secondary test will also be performed later in the day on July 15, with results available by the following morning. If the first test fails, the second will serve as a back up to determine whether racing can proceed in the afternoon. If water quality remains an issue, contingency plans such as potentially moving the course could be implemented. Nowicki said: 'We have a variety of different options that we can use and locations that we can look at. 'So it could be Sentosa or it could not be in Sentosa. It's not something we are planning right now so it's a bit premature to talk about alternative sites... If that doesn't happen, we'll worry about that after that.' Nowicki also noted that water quality disruptions are not unprecedented. At the 2024 Paris Olympics, the men's triathlon was postponed just hours before the scheduled start due to pollution levels in the River Seine. Nowicki said: 'We're prepared to accept that risk and push on with the event, testing the water, making sure it meets our standards and we're confident that the water quality will come back to the acceptable levels and the competition will continue.' The water temperature is also being closely monitored and has remained within acceptable limits, he added. This year's World Aquatics Championships, hosted in Singapore for the first time, began on July 11 with the water polo tournament at the OCBC Aquatic Centre. The event features six disciplines: swimming, diving, high diving, artistic swimming, water polo, and open water swimming, with more than 2,500 athletes from over 200 countries and territories participating.
