Olympians – If you pee in the pool, why do you put pool water in your mouth?

Michael Phelps says almost all competitive swimmers pee in the pool. (AP)

US Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps now admits he along with teammate Ryan Lochte, doesn’t shy away from peeing in the Olympic pool. If that’s not disturbing enough, Luke Burbank remembers something about other athletes’ habits that don’t sit well with the men’s recent disclosures.

“Do you know what I just realized? Have you seen what they do when they approach the starting block?” Luke says. “They splash the water all over themselves and then they put it in their mouth and they spit it out. That’s the preferred method for getting ready for the race for all these swimmers.”

Phelps and Lochte both seem to think peeing in the pool is pretty universal and no big deal.

“I think everybody pees in the pool. It’s kind of a normal thing to do for swimmers,” Phelps says. “When we’re in the water for two hours, we don’t really get out to pee. We just go whenever we’re on the wall. Chlorine kills it so it’s not bad.”

Luke and Dave Ross do not agree.

“I don’t think chlorine kills it enough,” says Luke. “That’s the kind of thing you do when you’re a 5-year-old kid, but as far as people I’ve been in swimming pools with, I hope that that’s a thing that people aren’t doing anymore.”

While Dave and Luke say it’s impossible for swimmers to keep themselves from inadvertently swallowing some water, they questioned why, with the knowledge that they and other swimmers are peeing in the pool constantly, they would put the pee-water in their mouths intentionally.

“Michael Phelps is cupping his hand, putting the water in his mouth when he is on the record as saying this – “Everybody pees in the pool. We just go when we’re on the wall,” says Luke. “So he is, when he’s dipping his hand in the water, he knows he’s dipping his hand in a big, giant urine stew, and he seems unperturbed by it.”

By JAMIE GRISWOLD, MyNorthwest.com Editor