GIAAN Rooney isn't usually one to make grandiose predictions, but the Paris Olympic Games has the former gold medal-winning swimmer bubbling with excitement.
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"I think Paris will be the most visually spectacular Olympics we've had in a while," Rooney said.
"It's just that incredible merger of history combined with the modern champions of sport. I don't think it gets much better."
While events like the beach volleyball and triathlon will guarantee copious shots of the Eiffel Tower, River Seine and Arc de Triomphe, Rooney will spend the bulk of the games poolside at the Aquatics Centre in Saint-Denis.
There she'll work alongside five-time Olympic gold medal-winner Ian Thorpe, providing expert commentary for the Nine Network's coverage of the Australian swim team's push for glory.
The Dolphins squad won 20 medals at Tokyo in 2021, of which nine were gold, as the likes of Ariarne Titmus, Kaylee McKeown and Mollie O'Callaghan became household names.
The effort equalled Australia's greatest performance in swimming at an Olympics and Rooney predicts the Dolphins will enjoy even greater success in Paris.
![Giaan Rooney predicts Kaylee McKeown, pictured, will successfully defend her 200m and 100m backstroke Olympic titles in Paris. Picture by Delly Carr Giaan Rooney predicts Kaylee McKeown, pictured, will successfully defend her 200m and 100m backstroke Olympic titles in Paris. Picture by Delly Carr](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/E9srhG6YCw3ZDt9UDADP4R/3af05f4f-b068-4428-a3aa-aa4820a831bb.JPG/r0_0_3207_2124_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"This Olympics, I am more than confident to say that they could be one of our most successful swim teams ever," she said. "I believe we're not just on track to equal our success in Tokyo, but to potentially beat it.
"I say that because it's a team I believe can carry that expectation. They're a very wise, experienced, professional team and most of them have been there before."
Swimming fans are salivating at the prospect of the day one 400-metre freestyle showdown between Titmus, USA champion Katie Ledecky and rising Canadian teen Summer McIntosh (July 28, 4.55am).
Rooney has also pencilled in McKeown's defence of her 100m (July 30, 5.32am) and 200m backstroke (August 3, 4.39am) Olympic titles as other races to watch.
"Every time she [McKeown] gets in the pool she just swims fast, regardless of the meet, how she's feeling or what preparations she's had. She's an absolute racing warrior," she said.
"The fact that her main competition Regan Smith, the American, had a blinder at her trials, I believe that will only fire Kaylee up more."
Rooney hasn't swum a lap in a pool since she retired from swimming following the 2006 Commonwealth Games. Instead the 41-year-old has focused on building a multi-faceted media career at both Nine and rivals Seven, which included covering the 2012 London Olympics and the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro.
These days Rooney juggles her media role with her family commitments with her husband Sam Levett and their children Zander, 10, and Lexi, 7. The family live on a macadamia farm near Lismore in the NSW Northern Rivers.
Coverage of the Paris Olympics on Nine, 9Now and Stan begins with football and rugby sevens from 11pm on July 24, before the Opening Ceremony begins the main program at 3am on July 27.