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Revision as of 12:57, 22 September 2007
Eric Moussambani (born May 31, 1978) is a swimmer from Equatorial Guinea.
Moussambani, nicknamed "Eric The Eel" by the media after the name first appeared in an article by Craig Lord in The Times newspaper in London, won brief international fame at the 2000 Summer Olympics when he swam the 100m freestyle in 1:52.72 — so slow it was more than twice the time of his faster competitors, and outside of even the 200m world record.
Moussambani gained entry to the Olympics without meeting the minimum qualification requirements via a wildcard draw designed to encourage developing countries without expensive training facilities to participate. While Pieter van den Hoogenband set a world record of 47.84 seconds to win the gold medal, Moussambani splashed his way to the finish to the cheers of the crowd in slightly more than twice that time. "The last 15 meters were very difficult," Moussambani said.
Before coming to the Olympics, Moussambani had never seen a 50m pool. He took up swimming only 8 months before the Olympics and had practiced in a mere 20m pool.
Moussambani was denied entry into the 2004 Olympic Games due to a visa bungle, despite the vast improvement in his swimming over the previous four years, with his personal best down to under 57 seconds.
See also
- Eddie 'the Eagle' Edwards, who was also a famously unsuccessful Olympian
External links
- Archive of a fansite
- http://www.espn.go.com/oly/summer00/swimming/s/2000/0920/760807.html
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics2000/swimming/931508.stm
- http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/thenetwork/news/2000/09/20/eric_moussambani/
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics_2004/swimming/3545074.stm
References
- "Eric 'the Eel' misses Games; Eric "the Eel" Moussambani's chances of competing at the Athens Olympics have been scuppered by problems over his application form". BBC. Monday, 9 August, 2004. Retrieved 2001-05-31.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - Brown, Alex (August 6, 2004). "Struggling to keep himself afloat". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2001-05-31.