Team USA swimmers have revealed the one “foul” habit they do in “every” pool as they aim to bring home the gold from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Water levels in the La Défense Arena may be rising slightly higher over the coming weeks as several Olympians made this stark admission: they always pee in the pool.
The athletes gave several excuses as to why they elect to do their business underwater rather than hop out to the bathroom when nature calls.
Zach Harting, who competed for the US at the Tokyo Olympics, told the Wall Street Journal that it was the tightness of his polyester bottoms that first made him turn to the aqua loo.
“The world changed for me,” he admitted.
For some swimmers, getting into their ultra-tight suits can take up to 20 minutes, also contributing to the need to do their business while wearing them.
Another Tokyo Olympian Jack Mitchell attributed it to drinking so much fluids – and what goes in, must come out.
“I always have to pee,” Mitchell told the Journal. “Because I’m so hydrated.”
These days, professional swimmers rarely think twice when they feel the urge to empty their bladders.
Meanwhile, only 40 per cent of adults admit to taking a leak in between doing lengths, one survey of 3,100 people from Healthy Pools found.
“It sounds so gross to outsiders, but because there is so much chlorine you don’t even think about it,” two-time Olympian Katie Hoff told the outlet.
While two-time Olympic gold medalist Lilly King says she pees in “every single pool I’ve swam in”. “That’s just how it goes,” she added.
King also revealed she has something of a special gift. “I can actually pee as I’m swimming,” she said of her multitasking abilities.
Due to the lack of time before a race, Hoff revealed that some don’t even wait to get in the water.
She recalled one instance when she was sitting next to a fellow American swimmer and “literally saw it roll down her leg and hit the floor”.
There is however one golden rule to taking a leak in the pool: don’t do it when anyone is in close proximity.
“You never want to swim through a warm patch,” four-time Olympic medalist Cullen Jones said, otherwise “you’re crop dusting everyone”.
“That’s foul,” she added.
