HELEN GLOVER says she is “appalled” by the high levels of sewage and pollution she encounters in the River Thames while training for the Paris Olympics.
The double Olympic champion wants the Government to slap significant fines on poo-dumping water firms who are “devastating” the country’s waterways.
Helen Glover is “appalled” by the state of the Thames right nowGetty
Getty Images – GettyHelen Glover and Heather Stanning won gold at the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympics[/caption]
Cambridge and Oxford crews have been advised not to chuck their cox into the Thames after Saturday’s Boat Race – as is tradition for the triumphant team – due to the discovery of high levels of E. coli bacteria along the curse.
It is claimed by campaigners River Action that Thames Water has discharged raw sewage into the Greater London area for more than 1,900 hours so far this year.
This is a wider problem across the UK where rivers and coastal areas are being blighted by the continuous pumping in of human waste by water companies.
Mum-of-three Glover, who lives near the Thames in Berkshire, told SunSport: “This is something I’m really passionate about.
“I think it’s absolutely appalling and disgraceful that coming from so high up that nothing is done about something so fundamental as the waterways.
“They are the bloodline of the country. It’s so important that we protect what we have.
“To allow and almost seem to encourage the devastation of the waterways and dumping of whatever you want to and not be fined.
“Or the fines are so low that it’s still more viable for them to dump it into the rivers.
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“It feels as though there are no consequences.
“I want a river that my kids can swim in. That the wildlife can thrive in.
“We live right by the river and you see it, you smell it, it’s real.
“We’re rowing along in our boats and you know you’re rowing in something that you shouldn’t be. You see it, you smell it.
“It’s not a secret to anyone. It’s so clear, how can this still be happening and how can this be okay?”
Glover is married to respected environmentalist Steve Backshall, who is known for his pioneering BBC wildlife documentaries.
As the 37-year-old prepares for her fourth and maybe final Olympics, she is keen to use her platform to highlight a major problem she sees on a daily basis.
The Cornish-born athlete said: “We actually had people down at British Rowing HQ in Caversham a couple of weeks ago performing tests on the quality of our water.
“To teach us how to do it ourselves. So we could monitor it, regulate it and report back.
“The state of the rivers is just awful at the minute.”
Glover, who won gold at the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympics with Heather Stanning, is likely to be part of the women’s four when the Paris Games start in four months time.
Team GB‘s squad will be officially announced in early June after the World Cup races next month and Glover said: “We will soon be in race mode. I’m in a really good place.
“Despite everything, how hectic life is, I’m hitting all the markers.
“Things are streamlining down towards the women’s four, unless things change with the results of racing.”