As Paris prepares to welcome the Olympic torch at the opening ceremony on July 26, the flame will have already had a brush with a record breaker before the first events even begin. On Sunday, the torch was taken down the River Marne on a Swiss-made, 24-seater rowing boat, the longest of its kind in the world.
Built by Stampfli Racing Boats, a Swiss manufacturer based in Zurich, the Stampfli Express is 43 metres long and has space for 24 rowers and a cox. This makes the sculling boat more than double the length of a racing eight, the longest boat used in competitive Olympic rowing, and means it offers three times the muscle power and six times the oars.
Weighing 430 kilos (2.500 kilos with rowers), the shell has to be assembled on the water in six separate parts - making sure to build it in the right direction too, as it is infamously hard to turn. “It’s a special feeling… you have the power of 24 people… it moves like a snake and it isn’t very stable,” Stampfli rowing coach Gregor Ortmann told the BBC.
At top speed, the Swiss invention can go 30 kilometres an hour - for reference, the fastest-ever average speed recorded for a racing eight over 2.000 metres, set by Team Canada in May 2024, is 22,5 km / h. You can see the boat in action here:
Video: christopher sherman / YouTube
After passing through Orly Airport in the early hours of Sunday morning, the iconic Swiss boat took 23 rowers, a cox and the torch bearer down the Marne as crowds lined the banks of the famous river east of Paris. The torch will now travel to Essonne, Yvelines, Hauts-de-Seine and Seine-Saint-Denis before arriving at the ceremony on July 26.
This year, Switzerland will be sending 128 athletes to the Paris Olympics, the largest delegation since the 1984 games in Los Angeles. 17 of the Swiss participants will be competing in rowing.