Olympic opening rehearsal on fast-flowing Seine set for July 16

The Olympics rings seen on Paris’ Eiffel Tower. Illustration photo by Unsplash

When Paris 2024 begins with a waterborne parade down the river on July 26, it will be the first Olympics in history to take the opening ceremony out of its traditional setting of the main stadium.

The rehearsal was originally scheduled for June 24 but was canceled because the river was in spate.

After several weeks of rainy weather, the flow of the Seine was five times stronger than its normal summer reading.

The flow remains abnormally high. Late on Friday afternoon, after another rainy day in the city, the volume of water still exceeded 500 cubic meters a second which is considerably greater than the usual 100 to 150 cubic meters a second in summer.

The Ministry of Sport has said the maximum acceptable flow is “450 cubic meters a second.”

It said that the boats would simply go down the river too fast.

The Ministry also said such a flow also clouded the chances of satisfying the water quality requirements for marathon swimming and triathlon events scheduled in the Seine.

The “very rainy weather” had caused “the strong flow of the river, which does not help to produce a good water quality,” Paris city hall said in June.

Thierry Reboul, Director of Ceremonies for the Organizing Committee, told AFP last week that at between 300 and 500 cubic meters, the ceremony would have to be “adapted.”

As an example, he mentioned “removing the tallest boats.”

Organizers have built stands for VIPs and ticket holders along the riverside banks and on bridges.

They also planned 222,000 free seats on the roads looking down along the higher banks but, said Reboul, had cut 8,600 of these for “security reasons”.