Goodwill Games Open Saturday

[AP]

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) -- Goodwill Games organizers Friday
postponed the swimming competition because the pool was filled with
greenish water, just one in a growing list of problems plaguing the
games before they open.
The 16-day event begins Saturday, and swimming was to have been
the day's showcase event featuring a 50-meter showdown between
world-record holder Tom Jager and Olympic champion Alexander Popov.
All swimming events will be held Sunday, instead of being spread
over two days.
Officials said the one-day delay was unlikely to hurt
performances -- and officials said it might give some racers a
needed day of rest -- but it's an embarrassment to organizers and
could help bear out fears that cash-strapped Russia isn't ready to
pull off a major sporting event.
The water at the SKA pool went from brownish-black Thursday to a
swamp-like olive green on Friday.
``No, I wouldn't jump into that water the way it looked when I
saw it,'' Jager said.
U.S. swim team spokesman Charlie Snyder tried to be positive.
``When you see what the Russians have been able to pull together
considering all else that's happened in this country, this little
delay isn't a big deal,'' Snyder said. ``But putting it off a day
was the only way to go considering the water.''
Other problems arising before the opening:
-- The United States basketball team showed up for its first
practice only to find the Chinese team waiting to train on the same
court. Coach George Raveling had a heated argument with Chinese
officials and the venue manager before yielding to the Chinese.
-- The South Korean handball team missed its flight, forcing
officials to postpone the squad's first match.
-- Transportation to and from venues and to local media centers
has been unreliable and ticket sales for the 16-day event are
reported slow with few foreign visitors.
-- Sanitation has been a concern with many coaches warning
players to avoid drinking St. Petersburg's water. Sprinter Carl
Lewis said he had to look for a long time before finding toilet
facilities at Petrovsky Stadium, site of the track and field
events.
-- Translation services have been problematic and some
communications lines were disrupted Friday by the failure of a
Turner Broadcasting System satellite.
Organizers tried to put a brave face on the swimming slip-up,
promising a near-sellout crowd of 70,000 for Saturday's opening
ceremonies at Kirov Stadium.
``It's not something that would mean changing the quality of the
swim competition,'' said Goodwill Games president Jack Kelly. ``We
have a very big program and that (change in the swim schedule)
could be accommodated.''
Kelly said an inspection Friday showed a troublesome filtration
system was still pumping murky green water, but Snyder suggested
the wound was self-inflicted. Kelly said other venues were
``virtually ready'' with only last-minute problems to be solved.
``The problem is they put charcoal directly into the filter
rather than in a cloth sack and then into the filter,'' Snyder
said. ``Two days ago when I went to the pool for the first time the
water was a brown-black color, this time it was green. The first
time you could see the black lines on the bottom, today you
couldn't.''
Many of the venues have undergone massive rehabs, but the SKA
pool has probably been the biggest rebuilding project. Kelly said
tests showed the water was safe, but he said racing in a pool with
discolored water would look bad on television.
``We want to make sure the aesthetics are what we want,'' Kelly
said. ``They (St. Petersburg organizers) want to portray this as a
place where standards are like everywhere else. This one problem is
a shame because the pool was a wreck and now it looks great.''
Despite the problems, two team handball games were played
Friday, with Russia beating Spain, 25-23, and France topping
Sweden, 27-22.
Even without swimming, Saturday's first day of competiton is
full with men's and women's beach volleyball, men's basketball,
weightlifting and boxing.
These are the third Goodwill Games, founded by Atlanta media
tycoon Ted Turner. The 1986 games in Moscow and Seattle in 1990
combined for a loss of more than $60 million. Kelly said officials
no longer hope to break even in St. Petersburg.
Russia is spending $75 million on the games, mostly for
renovation of the 11 competition sites for more than 2,000 athletes
from 55 countries.