The age-old question that everyone wants to know has been revealed by some of the greatest Olympian swimmers of all time, as many have considered the possibility, do people go the bathroom in the swimming pool? When asked if the swimmer and divers on the highest level pee while in the pool, Michael Phelps gave an answer originally back during the 2012 London Games, when he won four gold medals, and his shocking admission left many surprised.
"I think everybody pees in the pool," Phelps said, while saying it was not out of the ordinary. "When we're in the pool for two hours, we don't really get out to pee. We just go whenever we are on the wall."
"Chlorine kills it, so it's not bad," he says.
The Wall Street Journal took it a step further by recently conducting an investigation into the matter, as it uncovered a story "one of the dirtiest secrets of the Olympic Games: Everyone pees in the pool."
And apparently all of the swimmers think this is normal, as 2x gold medalist U.S. swimmer Lilly King spoke on the issue.
"I've probably peed in every single pool I've swam in," King said. "That's just how it goes."
In addition, Zach Harting, who competed in the Men's 200m butterfly at the 2020 Tokyo Games, also admitted to going No. 1 in the pool. Apparently, the now 26-year-old started doing it during high school, as he told the WSJ newspaper, while at a state championship swim meet he realized he had to go before the race was about to begin. That is to say, he didn't want to hold it as swimmers are a different breed, but I guess when you gotta go, you gotta go.
"The world changed for me," Harting said. "Every time I went to a pool after that, I only considered myself to have swam in it if I peed in it."
Ultimately, it kind of makes sense, considering the fact the athletes have to hydrate right up until the competition starts, combined with the tight swimwear, plus add the nervous anticipation before the race, and you get some pee mixed in the pool water.
With this in mind, the water is still cleaner than the Seine river, which will host the triathlon as well as open water swimming events.
To note, the swimming events will kick off with the Women's 100m Butterfly on Saturday, July 27 at 5:00 am ET.
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