More than 30 student-athletes experienced medical symptoms after using the Charles E. Smith Center swimming pool during a club water polo tournament earlier this month that club water polo representatives link to irregularly high water chemical levels.

The presidents of club water polo teams from GW, Howard University and the University of Maryland who competed in the pool on Nov. 3 said at least 31 students experienced severe eye burning, respiratory issues and skin rashes, with at least two GW students seeking medical attention after their exposure to the water. University spokesperson Shannon McClendon said the incident is under review by the Office of Ethics, Compliance and Risk in conjunction with the Division of Safety and Operations and the Department of Athletics.

The Smith Center pool contained high ratios of chlorine to bromine — two agents that are used to sanitize pools — measuring up to 10 to 15 parts per million from Oct. 31 to the morning of Nov. 3, a deviation from an ideal ratio of 1 to 2 ppm, according to pool chemical logs obtained by The Hatchet. Front desk student staff for the Smith Center are responsible for testing the chemical levels of the chlorine to bromine ratio in the water during their roughly three and a half hour-long shifts, which they report to Smith Center facilities managers via email, a student staff member said. 

Hours before the tournament, a testing log from about 8:30 a.m. showed a chlorine to bromine ratio of 7.5 to 15 ppm. As the water polo tournament was underway, Smith Center front desk staff continued to report irregularly high chemical levels throughout the day on the logs.

Aiden Milne, a student front desk staffer at the Smith Center, said approximately half an hour into his 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. shift on Nov. 3, he went to measure the pool’s chemical levels like he typically does, discovering the levels were 7.5 to 15 ppm, which prompted him to call Senior Athletic Operations Associate Ryan Gordon who asked Milne to halt the tournament and turn off the chlorine tanks in the pump room. 

Milne also said he noticed that other managers’ chemical reports had highlighted that the chlorine levels were higher than their normal range days prior to the tournament. 

“That’s incredibly above the normal,” Milne said. “I think we saw that the levels were going up a few days prior. I wasn’t on shift during that but I looked back at the other manager’s reports, and it was higher than it should have been, and it was highlighted.”

During the fifth tournament game of the day at about 4 p.m., GW Club Water Polo President Vittoria Ferrari called off the remainder of the tournament after students reported worsening reactions to the water, and allowed the fifth game — a match between the University of Maryland and Georgetown — to finish.

Gordon then instructed student staff members to shut down the tournament after Milne called him about the chemical levels and reactions to the water. The sixth and final game was canceled.

McClendon declined to identify who is responsible for treatment of the pool and testing its chemical levels. She also declined to comment on which chemicals are used to treat the pool.

“The health and safety of all pool users is paramount,” McClendon said in an email.

Ferrari said she arrived at the pool before the first game at 10 a.m. to set up equipment and found the pool doors closed and the fans turned off, which are needed in motion to ventilate the space. Upon entering the pool, she said she noticed powerful “chlorine fumes,” much stronger than she experiences during practice. 

Following the first water polo match of the tournament, GW players began to distribute eye drops among the team to lessen eye irritation, which Ferrari said is normal for play in chlorinated pools and did not concern her. But it was mid-way through the second game of the tournament’s six when she said the burning in her eyes worsened, forcing her to leave the game to recover in the bathroom.

“Midway through the game, I had to literally just get out because I couldn’t open my eyes for longer than a second without them burning,” Ferrari said. “And as soon as water from the pool was splashed into my face, my eyes would really, really burn.” 

After pouring saline into her eyes in the bathroom, Ferrari watched the fifth game of the day at 4 p.m., a game between Georgetown and the University of Maryland where she said players continued to cough and rub their eyes while in the water or on the pool deck. 

When Milne stepped out to call Gordon, Ferrari said she suggested to Milne that the tournament should be called off, to which Gordon agreed. She said players ultimately decided to conclude their game in a rolling quarter, with the clock not resetting during timeouts or penalties to conclude the game quickly. This followed a brief timeout where they made a collective decision to continue playing after Ferrari called off the tournament.

“I didn’t know the levels were unsafe until I went and made the Smith Center staff test the waters,” Ferrari said. 

University of Maryland Club Water Polo President Daniel Parr said nearly all the members on his 10-person team suffered from headaches, lightheadedness and respiratory problems throughout the day due to the pool chemicals.

“We were sitting on the pool deck, and I remember sitting there and my eyes were really bloodshot, and I couldn’t see too well, and they were burning a whole lot,” Parr said. “And then, more significantly, it just hurt to breathe, and our chests were all really tight, and we were all coughing a whole lot.”

Howard Club Water Polo President and Captain Colin McMahon said five members of his 12-person roster were forced to step away from the game throughout the tournament following symptoms from exposure to the water, and he had to rely on his inhaler to assist in breathing – something he’s never done during a water polo match.

“Our pool is never really over-chlorinated,” McMahon said, referring to Howard’s indoor swimming pool. “We rarely ever have problems with getting into the pool and having our eyes burning like crazy.” 

Ferrari said two GW players ultimately sought medical attention, one for chemical burns on their face and extreme eye irritation, who immediately sought medical care at GW Hospital. The other player experienced a severe headache, respiratory symptoms, fatigue, and coughing fits following the tournament a day and a half following the tournament, which later developed into pneumonia, the player said.

Ferrari said she had a meeting with Lerner Health and Wellness Center Managing Director Mark Mermelstein in the days following the tournament, who told her that the pool’s issue stemmed from the chemical “programmer” of the pool and that the issue would be escalated to the University’s risk management department.

Before the tournament, members of visiting teams were required to sign a University Waiver and Assumption of Risk provided by Mermelstein ahead of the tournament. The waiver releases the University from damages, liability, suits and claims caused by “failure to act, or negligence in the connection with the participation in the activities which are the subject of this release” within Lerner, but not in the Smith Center. 

McClendon declined to comment if the University is liable for any injuries that occurred in the Smith Center and injuries due to the high chemical levels in the Smith Center pool.

Andrew Lundt, the associate athletics director for operations, events and facilities, said the Smith Center pool is managed by a hired pool management company, and that a new UV light filter will be installed later this month to “help modernize the facility.”

“The facility is maintained by a professional pool management company and is routinely evaluated for safety and functionality,” Lundt said in an email.

Members of GW’s varsity water polo and swim and dive teams declined to comment.

Milne, the front desk student staffer, said that over the summer, the pool had faced the opposite issue with its chemical issues — reporting a lack of chlorine and high pH levels, which caused officials to pour chlorine directly into the pool instead of periodically flowing chlorine through the tanks adjacent to the pool. 

Days following the tournament, tests conducted by The Hatchet on Nov. 7 showed chlorine to bromine levels at 6.5 to 3.0, registering higher than the ideal testing range of 1 to 2 ppm but lower than the levels reported during the tournament.

“The pool was really messed up over the summer, but we had fixed it completely when we got back for the school year,” Milne said. “And then it just goes through these phases where it just messes up.”