Intro:

Triathletes preparing for 2016 Olympic Games swam in waters off Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro on Friday, despite government warnings that water in the area was "unfit" for swimming.

Script:

SOUNDBITE (English) Alistair Brownlee, British triathlon gold medallist:

"I think that, as an athlete, you can do what you can to limit problems. If you actually get ill for swallowing water during the race it's not an issue at all, just ill after the race. What you try to minimise is illness during the race, so not spending too much time in it beforehand, if you are worried about it, and take precautions like just making sure you are clean and all that kind of thing. I think I am certainly no stranger to dirty water. I think swim in a lot worse to be honest."

SOUNDBITE (English) Steffen Justus, German triathlete:

"We have no choice because we have to swim in this, we have to swim in one year in this (water) or everybody has to say - ok we don't go to the Olympic Games."

SOUNDBITE (English) Rodrigo Garcia, Rio 2016 Sport Director:

"Last Monday we had four points of measurement here inside the bay in Guanabara Bay and Copacabana beach. And in one of these four points, the one which is more closer to the Fort, the water quality was not so good. So, this normally happens one or two days after a rainfall or a rainy day - which was the case of the last Saturday. Normally the water that are... the dirty (water) that are (is) on the streets, the drainage of these water goes to the beach. So we took another measurement two days ago, one day ago and all the measurements now are okay - green. So, we can ensure the best scenario for the athletes."