Olympic Diving Practices Are Cancelled Thanks to That Weird Green Water

On Friday, officials at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro finally decided to pull the plug on their diving pools. 

Not literally — doing that would have resulted in a drainage of the strange green water currently inhabiting them — but figuratively, on any future practice sessions scheduled to happen in their murky waters.

A few days prior to the announcement that the diving pools were off-limits, athletes and news outlets alike had already begun to notice that something seemed a little weird about the water in them and the water in the nearby racing pools.

Officials confirmed to Buzzfeed that the emerald water was the result of a "decrease in alkalinity" caused by "increased use of the pool in the last few weeks." 

Rio 2016 spokesman Philip Wilkinson told CNN that the hold on practices was a necessary measure, because "the water must be still so the pool can return to its blue color as soon as possible."

Officials stressed that the water's color, while abnormal, posed no threat to the athletes.

While they waited for practices to resume, athletes and Twitter users made jokes at the green water's expense.