About fifty boats that will transport delegations on the Seine during the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games took part in a large-scale test run on the river.

This rehearsal, between the Pont d’Austerlitz and the Pont d’Iena, was scheduled for early April but was postponed twice due to the excessive flow of the river caused by numerous storms in France a few months ago.

The boats are estimated to take about 45 minutes to complete the crossing, “in the first training we were a few minutes late” recalled Thierry Reboul, director of ceremonies of the organizing committee who also commented that “we have learned from that, we continue training and today we are very happy with how we have fulfilled it”. Reboul also set as a goal the fulfillment of the schedules and explained that next June 24 there will be another test but already with the 89 boats that will be put into operation on the opening day of the Olympic Games.

One of the main concerns is the flow of the Seine, which increases with rainfall and makes navigation difficult. “The flow of the river has reduced considerably and quite rapidly. We are still at a significant flow, but we are getting very close to the conditions we usually see in July,” explained Thierry Reboul.