The 2016 Olympic Games were awarded to Brazil in 2009, but that country's promise to clean and treat the water in and around Rio de Janeiro has fallen well short with only weeks remaining until the competition. A swimming career that began to help manage asthma will end next month for Sean Ryan when the former McCallie School and University of Michigan All-American competes at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Ryan will be vying in his sport's biggest test of endurance, a 10-kilometer (6.2-mile) event in the open water that has just 25 participants.
"I'm pretty happy to be going to the Olympics and to be able to reach that goal of mine," Ryan said. "I'm really trying to enjoy the process through this last month or so. I only get to live this lifestyle for a little bit longer, so I want to make sure I don't take anything for granted and that I take full advantage of the experience that I'm being offered."
The 23-year-old former Hixson resident has targeted Rio since missing out on the London Games in 2012. Once these Olympics are over, Ryan will join the working world as a performance and admissions engineer for the Detroit Diesel Corporation.
Perhaps Ryan will have an Olympic medal by then, and he hopes he will be healthy.
He will be swimming for nearly two hours in the filthiest water in Olympic history, with the course off Copacabana Beach having been subjected for years to daily dumpings of hospital waste and household raw sewage. The water is cleaner than it was a year ago but nowhere close to the standards Rio officials promised in 2009 when the continent of South America was awarded the Olympics for the first time over bids from Chicago and Madrid.
"The bottom line is that everybody in that race is probably going to get some sort of sickness, but it's not something that is long term," longtime McCallie swimming coach Stan Corcoran said. "It will sort of be like getting the flu for a week. Sean has gotten all his shots and his medicine, and he won't get in that water until the day of the race.
"He'll be training in a pool down there the whole time. He may go out on a boat and scout the course and try to get the landmarks of where the buoys are, but he will not get in that water until the event starts, and I would venture to guess that most people who aren't from Brazil will be doing the same thing."
The Olympic men's open-water swimming race is scheduled for Aug. 16 at 8 a.m. EDT.
Water hazard
Open-water swimming made its Olympic debut at the 2008 Games in Beijing.
A year later, Rio officials guaranteed more than 80 percent of its sewage issues would be contained and treated at the various water venues that would host this year's rowing, sailing and swimming competitions. It became evident the last couple of years, however, that Rio did not have nearly the manpower or the funds to live up to those promises.
The Associated Press had a revealing article last summer that included this sobering stat: Athletes at Rio's water venues would have a 99 percent chance of being infected by the pathogens by swallowing just three teaspoons of water, though the report added that results would vary based on a person's immunity and other factors.
"I'm trying to stay relaxed about all that and just focus on my preparation," Ryan said. "All of the organizing committees and the Olympic Committee and USA Swimming are worried about the water quality and have been giving us the most up-to-date information, and I can't control any of what happens. As long as nothing drastic happens, I'm just going to worry about my preparation and being in the best condition I can be."
Open-water swimmers, according to an ESPN article earlier this year, will have several ways to combat the conditions in addition to medical treatments beforehand. They can apply Vicks VapoRub to their nostrils as an odor barrier before the event, use mouthwash to kill germs and drink flat Coca-Cola afterward to settle their stomachs.
Water elements leading up to Ryan's race could be affected if heavy rains force runoff from the streets to the sand or by a northeast wind resulting in more garbage entering the bay.
"It's unfortunate that they've put the Olympics in a place that isn't really able to handle it," Corcoran said. "It would be very interesting to see how much money is going to the eight wealthiest Brazilians. They said they had $300 million designated for water purification systems and spent $25 million on it, so where did the other $275 million go?
"I may be totally off base there, but I hope the international association learns from that."
Lifetime chance
Golfers Jason Day and Rory McIlroy are skipping the Rio Olympics due to the Zika virus, as is NBC "Today Show" co-host Savannah Guthrie, who is pregnant with her second child.
Day cited wanting more children as his reason for not making the trip, while McIlroy cited his engagement.
Ryan will be accompanied to Rio by his longtime girlfriend but said the two are not planning to start a family any time soon, adding that Zika "is not an immediate concern for us." Government upheaval, a lack of security and potential transit nightmares are issues for this year's Olympics in addition to Zika and the nasty water, but Ryan is not frustrated by the numerous deficiencies overshadowing all the athletic accomplishments to this point.
The 6-foot-3, 140-pounder once nicknamed "Skeletor" by his Michigan teammates was among the first American athletes to qualify for this year's Olympic Games by finishing fourth last July at the FINA World Championships in Kazan, Russia, with a 10k time of 1:50.03.3.
"I think that covering all of these issues is very important," Ryan said. "If we didn't have the press monitoring these issues and making sure the general public knows, then it wouldn't be as big of an issue and I wouldn't be as aware of it. Each Olympics seems to have issues as they prepare for them, so every Games has something that overshadows it, and I'm glad that these health issues are being brought to light."
Ryan will be the first McCallie School swimmer to compete in the Olympics. He was a four-time All-American for Corcoran's Blue Tornado in the 500 freestyle, winning the state championship in that event in 2010. He was a five-time All-American at Michigan and a key member of three Big Ten title teams and the 2013 national champions.
Ryan is projected to finish fifth to seventh in next month's race, but the water itself could play a role in the final competition of a swimming career that has taken him all over the planet.
"The only continent I haven't hit is Africa," Ryan said, "and, of course, Antarctica. Nobody hits that one."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com