Rio Olympics 2016: Ryan Lochte’s hair turns green as chlorine ruins swimmer’s silver dye
THE Olympic swimming pools have taken another victim during the Rio Games.
'Poolgate' saw the Olympic diving pool hit the headlines this week after mysteriously turning GREEN - and the pools are again causing controversy after Ryan Lochte saw his hair change colour and numerous water polo players complained that there is too much chlorine in the water.
American swimmer Lochte, who won gold alongside Michael Phelps in the 4x200m relay, shocked fans when he arrived for the Games with dyed silver hair.
Lochte's silver locks haven't lasted long sadly, as his time in the pool have seen him go from a silver fox to a green giant.
This time it isn't a mystery why Lochte's Barnet looks more like the Joker from Batman.
A tinge of green could already be seen in the Opening Ceremony, but five days later there's no silver left.
Chlorine and bleach don't mix.
However, it would appear that Lochte, who is known in the US as being a symbol of 'bro' culture, is poking fun at the green pool and the claims that there is too much chlorine being used.
Lochte has doctored the pictures himself to make his hair look more green than it actually is.
As can be seen in the pictures above, Lochte's hair does have a slight green tint - but nowhere close to the shade that can be seen on his Instagram account.
The 32-year-old, who has 12 Olympic medals including six gold, takes part in the 200m individual medley later on Thursday.
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It isn't the first green controversy of the Games, with the diving pool and water polo pool seeing a colour change that sparked health concerns.
British diver Tom Daley was among those to draw attention to the colour change - he and synchronised partner Dan Goodfellow jumped into a clear pool but the next day the water had turned green.
Someone urinating into the water had at first been blamed, then dismissed.
Organisers have claimed that the colour change was of no danger to the athletes and "safe", with algae, plus a lack of wind, believed to be the cause.
However, Team GB gold medal winner Jack Laugher, who won the 3m synchro with Chris Mears, has a rather more simple explanation.
He thinks that ink from plastic boards surrounding the pool has leaked into the water.
Laugher said: "We’ve got some big plastic boards that go into the water just for decoration and effect.
"But you can see on the waterline that they’re blue when below the waterline, and above the waterline it’s green.
"And we think maybe a load of ink has run into the pool potentially. It’s safe and the doctors have given it the all clear or whatever. And it’s different as well, you know, it’s another one of those added different conditions."
Team-mate Mears, 23, laughed that the green pool may even have helped the pair.
He told ITV's This Morning: "Oh, the swamp pool!
"It was interesting and something I’ve never seen before. It’s not dangerous we’ve been assured by everyone… and it didn’t taste any different – because obviously accidentally you do kind of drink some of the water.
"Also it kind of helped in a way because when you’re spinning around sometimes when you’re seeing a blue sky and a blue pool it can be quite difficult, but with a green pool it was pretty easy."
There have also been complaints from water polo players that their pool has got too much chlorine in it - meaning they can barely open their eyes.
Athletes have complained of stinging eyes and of feeling nauseous.
Team USA men's captain Tony Azevedo said: "This is the Olympic Games and they are putting so much chlorine in the water that people can't see.
"You can't have that," he added after his side beat France 6-3 to progress to the semi-final of the competition.
The Australians also complained after their 8-6 victory against Japan.
Richie Campbell said: "I don't know what's happened. I think they bumped up the chlorine or something because my eyes are stinging.
'It hurts at the end of the game and we'll probably get teary eyes for the next couple of hours but that's alright. I felt it more towards the end.
"It wasn't too bad in the water but now it's really starting to sting.
"I didn't really notice straight away but you could tell on the TV when we were watching inside.
"But that's all right, we've probably played in worse pools."