German Olympic Sports Federation Chef de Mission Michael Vesper and his German Swimmming Team have praised the atmosphere in Brazil following their arrival at the opening of the German House in Rio de Janeiro.

SOUNDBITE: (German) Michael Vesper, Chef de Mission of the German Olympic Team:

"The atmosphere here in Brazil is developing right now at the moment. This is at least my impression. It has not yet arrived properly. But this is quite normal and it will come (or arrive) together with the opening ceremony. And I hope that it will be a good debut (or premier) on the South American continent, because as we all know, there haven't been any Games taken place here so far until now. And this is a giant challenge for this city, for this country. And I wish everyone involved good luck and success in accomplishing this challenge."
SOUNDBITE: (German) Michael Vesper, Chef de Mission of the German Olympic Team (asked about the Russian doping case and how to deal with it):

"We must now see what the result of this decision will be in the end. We can make an assessment then. A ban, which is being assessed by many people as the better option.... such a ban would of course have meant a high juridical risk in such a short period of time."

SOUNDBITE: (English) Paul Biedermann, Swimmer:

"I think it is a special Summer Games, especially here in Brazil. There is a real lifestyle and some atmosphere here that i am really enjoying. I like being here. Just a great Olympic Village and I am looking forward to the competitions."

SOUNDBITE (English) Paul Biedermann, Swimmer (on the Russian doping scandal):

"Actually I have an opinion on that, but for now I am just focussing on my races and on my competitions. That is all that matters to me now. Of course the news around are sad and it is something you don't want to hear and it is not good. But for the moment it is all about my competition."