Ghanaian Swimers Fail to finish

MELBOURNE, Australia: It's only autumn in Australia, but the cold waters of Port Phillip Bay caused all sorts of problems for open water swimmers from Antigua and Ghana.

On the second lap of the 5-kilometer swim at the world championships Sunday, Kareem Valentine Sandoval of Antigua asked to be pulled from the water due to shortness of breath. He initially appeared to be in respiratory distress.

Williams Malique of Antigua and Adu Opanka Okai of Ghana both pulled out later with muscle cramping. Okai appeared to have mild hypothermia as well as cramping in his legs, while Malique was brought shivering onto the shore.

"I'm very tired," Okai said.

In the last lap of the race, another athlete from Ghana, Bernard Ray Atsu Blewudzi, was pulled from the water suffering from mild hypothermia and muscle cramping in his legs.

No wonder. The team from Ghana didn't arrive in Australia until Sunday morning, after a stopover in Dubai. When they left Ghana, the temperature was above 40 C (100 F).

"Possibly the weather might have impacted those athletes coming from hotter countries. It's difficult to specifically prepare for these conditions in their own countries," said Suzi Blackburn, an ambulance and paramedic supervisor.

"The water today is about 19 degrees (Celsius, 66F) and in their countries it's possibly in the mid-20s."