Olympic ‘Muffin Man’ Henrik Christiansen Jokes About Swimming in the Seine: ‘Tell My Fans I Love Them’

Norwegian swimmer Henrik Christiansen is going viral again — but this time, not for the Paris Olympic Village’s chocolate muffins.

“Guys if I don’t survive this, tell my fans I love them 🫶🏼,” Christiansen, 27, jokingly captioned a Wednesday, August 7, TikTok of himself practicing for an upcoming race in the River Seine.

In the clip, Christiansen lip-synced to an audio clip originally from an interview with U.K. TV personality Gemma Collins , in which she states, “I’m not ashamed to admit it. It’s hell in there, it’s horror. You have to be a certain type of person to survive.”

He poked fun at the Seine’s swimming conditions in another Wednesday TikTok post . “Our competition venue is looking rather dashing,” he captioned footage of the river’s murky water.

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In preparation for the Paris Games, the French capital city made extensive efforts to clean up the Seine so that it could be used for events. Although Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo took a dip in the river last month to prove its safety, the men’s triathlon event was postponed a day after rain caused E.coli levels to spike.

Canadian triathlete Tyler Mislawchuk claimed he “ vomited 10 times after the race,” though clarified it was not because of the River Seine’s water quality. “It got hot in the last laps,” he explained to Triathlon Magazine Canada on July 31.

After competing in the men’s 800m and 1500m freestyle swimming events at the Paris Games, Christiansen is set to swim in the Seine during the men’s 10k open water marathon competition on Friday, August 9.

Christiansen — who previously competed at the 2016 and 2020 Games in Rio and Tokyo, respectively — has gone viral throughout the Paris Games for his hilarious social media videos, most of which have been about his obsession with the Olympic Village’s chocolate muffins.

“I feel like you’re just here for the chocolate muffin,” Christiansen’s teammate says in a July 27 TikTok before the camera pans to him with his mouth full and covered in chocolate. “What?” he confusedly replies.

Christiansen’s funny videos have earned him the nickname of the Paris Olympics’ “Muffin Man.”

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After completing his last pool swimming event, Christiansen teased that he would prepare for his net race by eating more of the tasty treats. “Done with the pool swimming here in Paris🥖 On friday i’m racing the 10km open water, might have a muffin before then🧁,” he wrote via Instagram on August 5.

His posts have also captured the attention of royalty as he posed for pics with the muffin while meeting Crown Prince Haakon of Norway . “Do you know the muffin man?,” the Norwegian royal family captioned an Instagram pic of the two on Thursday, August 8.