Now the water polo pool joins the diving pool by turning green - as officials finally attempt to explain what went wrong

The water polo pool at the Rio Olympics has joined the diving pool next to it by also turning from crystal blue to mucky green .

Games officials finally gave an explanation for the dramatic colour change, which has been widely debated across social media, blaming algae.

On Tuesday, the diving pool at the Maria Lenk Aquatic Centre turned a dark green colour, triggering a wide range of theories - and jokes - on social media.

The green diving pool stood in stark contrast to the water polo pool, which maintained its crystal blue colour. However, on Wednesday, it too turned green.

The greeness was caused by "a proliferation of algae", Mario Andrada a Rio spokesman said.

"This was because of heat and a lack of wind," he said. "We did all the chemical tests.”

However, in a separate statement, he said that more tests should have been done: "There was a sudden decrease in the alkalinity of the pool. Obviously, the people in charge of maintaining the pool and of checking could and should have done more intensive tests.”

He added: “We probably failed to note that with more athletes, the water could be affected in a different way.” 

The green colour of the diving pool certainly did not seem to put off Jack Laugher and Chris Mears from Leeds, who won a sensational gold for Team GB in the men's synchronised 3m springboard on Wednesday evening.

The jokes about the water continued aplenty, however: