Health scare forces Australians to cancel warmup meet

CANBERRA, Australia — Swimming Australia has canceled its last warmup meet before the London Olympics after a water polo coach and two players who train at the venue were diagnosed with whooping cough.

Swimming Australia said it called off a relay camp and the meet at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), due to start Friday, as a precaution after the women's water polo team was placed in isolation in Canberra. Olympic swimmers have been advised to continue training in their home cities until leaving to fine-tune in Europe.

Swimming Australia head coach Leigh Nugent said he'd spoken with AIS officials and, "while we are comfortable with the procedures they have put in place, we have decided to take this precaution."

The cancellation was a setback for the strong Australian squad as it removed a good chance for competitive racing ahead of the London Games.

The full Australian swimming squad will gather at Manchester on July 14 and move to London eight days later.

The AIS said in a statement it was treating the whooping cough outbreak "very seriously" and would continue to work closely with the institute's own health professionals and the provincial health authorities to reduce any potential risk.

"We are informing all sports visiting the AIS of the infection and any decision to continue their immediate preparations at the AIS are for each individual sport to make," the AIS statement said. (AP)