Tokyo (AFP)

The International Swimming Federation (Fina) has pledged to monitor the situation closely following Sunday's sweaty prostitutions against temperature and water quality during the open water test ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

"It was the hottest race I participated in, I felt good in the first two kilometers and then I was overheated," said 10-year-old Oussama Mellouli of Tunisia ( open water) in London in 2012.

The five-kilometer race began at 7 am, when it was already over 30 degrees in the Japanese capital, subject to a wave of heat wave that made about sixty deaths.

"The temperature was so high that I'm a little worried," admitted Japanese swimmer Yumi Kida, who added that "the water was a little stinky and the clarity was not very good".

According to Fina regulations, athletes can not compete if the water temperature exceeds 31 degrees.

The director of the governing body of global swimming Cornel Marculescu promised that an external body would be set up in collaboration with the organizers of Tokyo-2020 to monitor the quality and temperature of the water in the run-up to the Games and that the results could affect the timing of the marathon swimming event.

"According to his information, we will decide the time of the start of the race, it could be 5h, 5h30, 6h, 6h30 ... everything depends on the temperature of the water", he explained, ensuring that the welfare of the swimmers was a priority.

The heat has become a headache for organizers of Tokyo-2020, who have already advanced the start time of several events, including the marathon, to mitigate the effects of the hot summer heat in Japan.

In October 2017, the organizers were surprised after tests revealed levels of e-coli bacteria more than 20 times higher than international standards, raising doubts about the safety of the site.

At the time, the organizing committee had blamed the prolonged summer rains that had reported pollutants between late July and early September. A year later, the organizers said that tests using underwater "screens" to filter water had reduced the rate of bacteria on the site, which will also host the triathlon.

The race will take place in Odaiba, in Tokyo Bay, against the backdrop of the famous "Rainbow Bridge". On a clear day, Mount Fuji is visible.

© 2019 AFP