Hot water in Taipei forces Canadians out of open water swim at Universiade

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Canada’s open water swimmers won’t compete at the Summer Universiade because of unusually hot water temperatures.

The open water marathon race was scheduled for early Sunday morning, but Swimming Canada said a temperature measurement fell outside the maximum allowable range of 31 C established by FINA.

“Safety is always my first concern, and it’s been the primary area of discussion since our arrival,” Swimming Canada’s open water coach Mark Perry said in a statement.

“We have a very comprehensive Red-Amber-Green rated safety system that we use to assess all safety issues before making a decision on whether it’s safe for our athletes to compete. In this case, we feel the conditions warrant withdrawing from the race.”