As the cameras zoomed in and beamed images of the sudden mermaid around the world, security rushed in to keep the crowd under control, first of all by removing Jesse from sight as soon as possible. Paramedics had been standing by in case anyone was injured, and to them fell the unexpected task of carrying a hysterical mermaid to a waiting ambulance.
A bemused hospital staff set about x-raying and taking blood samples and biopsies, but all they could tell Jesse's family and coach was that she seemed to be half fish.
The games were cancelled, the pool water tested for foreign substances and the other swimmers placed under observation, but no one could explain the transformation. A rumor started that Jesse had been transformed by fish-derived performance-enhancing drugs, but no doctor took the idea seriously.
Zeus was annoyed. "Look at them. We perform one miracle and they scurry around in panic, then dishonor us by cancelling our games! In the old days, they knew to accept the punishments of the gods without flinching. It's time to teach them again..."