SINGAPORE (AP) – The US team at the Swimming World Championship in Singapore is fighting a case of “acute gastroenteritis” that compromised performance on Sunday, the first day of the eight-day competition in the pool.
USA Swimming spokesman Nikki Warner confirmed the outbreak to the Associated Press and said that before arriving in Singapore, the US team had roots at a training camp held in Phuket, Thailand.
She said all American swimmers traveled to Singapore. She refused to say how many people were affected by infectious diarrhea.
At least three have been clearly affected: Tori Haske, Luka Mijatovic and Claire Weinstein.
The defense of the Olympic 100-meter butterfly champion Hasuke has withdrawn from the reserve heat of Sunday’s event. The team initially said they were pulled to focus on the relay event.
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American 16-year-old Mijatovic swam in the 400 freestyle qualifiers. His 3:59.68 time was almost 15 seconds from his entry time, but when he swam it was clear he was under obsessive.
The promising 18-year-old Weinstein was also drawn from the 400 freestyle.
Katie Ledecky, the American team’s most famous swimmer, played fine in Sunday’s spare session and appears to have not been affected.
The US swimming team is about to rebound from a difficult time at the Parisio Games a year ago. The Americans only won the lowest gold medal since the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
That relatively low total has continued to top the medal table by Australia.
The men only won one gold medal in a separate event in Paris, and the group hopes to rebound in Singapore with a very young male team. Director Greg Meehan said that was his memory of the youngest.
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