Eric Moussambani

From Free net encyclopedia

Eric Moussambani (born 1978) is a swimmer from Equatorial Guinea.

Moussambani, nicknamed "The Eel" by the media, won worldwide fame at the 2000 Summer Olympics when he swam the 100 m freestyle in 112.72 seconds - more than twice the time of his faster competitors, and longer even than the 200 m 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. In the heats he squared off against two other swimmers (also wildcard holders), but both were disqualified for false starts and Moussambani won his one-man heat by default.

In the final, while the eventual winner Pieter van den Hoogenband managed a world-record-breaking 47.84 seconds, Moussambani splashed his way to the finish to the cheers of the crowd in slightly more than twice that (slower than the 200m world record of 1m 44.06s held by Ian Thorpe). "The last 15 meters were very difficult.", Moussambani said.

Before coming to the Olympics, Moussambani had never seen a 50 m pool. He took up swimming only 8 months before the Olympics and had practised in a 20 m pool.

Moussambani was denied entry into the 2004 Olympic Games despite the vast improvement in his swimming over the previous four years (his personal best had dropped below 60s), due to a visa bungle.

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