Open water swimmers have reported feeling unwell after a recent dip in the River Tay in Perth.
Eleven members from the Fife Wild Swimmers group swam more than eight miles from the Fair City to Newburgh.
But four of them said they felt ill after the swim.
It is understood they recovered within a few days.
Experienced open water swimmer and member of the group Douglas Wood, from Kinghorn, slammed a recent sewage breach at Stanley.
He claimed the swim would have been postponed had he been aware of the incident.
Illness after Fife wild swimmers dip
The swim took place on July 9.
Douglas, who has been open water swimming for five years, said: “All open water swimmers accept the risk, especially after heavy rain and potential run off from the fields.
“It hasn’t put us off. The main reason for bringing it up was that the sewage breach had been reported and nothing had been officially released stating the fact.
“If this data had been available, the swim would have been postponed.
“Although we have swam many times from Rodney’s to Willowgate (with no health issues) this was the first time swimming from Rodney’s to Newburgh.
“A pretty epic swim was completed by 11 experienced open water swimmers, four of which were extremely ill after the swim.
“Scotland has water in abundance so the last thing we need is people being put off due to unreliable water quality.”
‘The last thing we need is people being put off’
The sewage leak at Stanley was reported to be down to a pipe blockage, with wipes and sanitary products blocking the grating.
As a result, waste water was discharged into Tay.
A spokesperson for Scottish Water referred to the firm’s Nature Calls initiative that encourages people not to flush wipes down the toilet.
They also emphasised that the country’s waterbodies are in “good health”.
They said: “Scotland’s rivers and coastal waters are in good health – 87% of waterbodies achieve good or better water quality, including the section of the River Tay at Perth and the Upper Tay Estuary at Newburgh.”
