Michael Phelps: The greatest athlete of all time. But he does pee in the pool.

Cameron to Phelps: ‘Don’t pee in the Olympic swimming pool’

Cameron to Phelps: ‘Don’t pee in the Olympic swimming pool’

By politics.co.uk staff

David Cameron reacted angrily to reports US swimmers had been urinating in the Olympic swimming pool yesterday, warning decorated athlete Michael Phelps not to "pee in the pool".

US swimmers Phelps and Ryan Lochte admitted they had been relieving themselves in the pool before their swims recently, much to the annoyance of Olympic organisers.

"I was quite surprised by that. It is not OK to pee in the pool," Cameron told the Metro newspaper.

Elsewhere in the interview, the prime minister complained of the songs from the beach volleyball, which is being played down the road at Horse Guards Parade.

"It's all very amusing for five minutes until you try to get the children to sleep. They have [Christina Aguilera song] 'Moves like Jagger' every sort of ten minutes. There are particular DJs who do particular things," he commented.

With Downing Street acting as his home and his office, the prime minister has been enduring the pop songs for the duration of the Olympics, although he has also been able to attend several events.

The first week of the Games saw him associated with the 'curse of Cameron', after athletes repeatedly failed in their respective event whenever he appeared. But Team GB's recent spate of gold medals has mostly dispelled that impression.

Watching Mo Farah, Jessica Ennis and Greg Rutherford win gold on Saturday was "the most exciting night of sport I'll probably ever see in my life", the prime minister said.

"I've seen it in my children. They have been designing Olympic T-shirts. My son wants to be called Elwen Wiggins. My daughter has been practicing gymnastics on the kitchen floor. 

"Politicians can make lots of policies for sport but there is nothing more powerful than seeing the best in the world compete against each other for that sort of inspiration."

Britain is currently third on the medal table with a historic 22 golds.