All you need to know about Eric “Eel” Moussambani, who swam the slowest 100m freestyle in Olympic history

Eric Moussambani, a 22-year-old from Equatorial Guinea, gained entry to participate d in the Sydney 2000 Olympics via wildcard. 

In the Olympics, countries that fail to produce athletes who meet qualification standards are granted “wildcards”, allowing them to enter the competition without meeting the regular Olympic qualification rules. 

Eric discovered his passion for swimming shortly after high school. At the time, he did not know how to swim, but he knew that it was a sport that he wanted to pursue. He had never seen a swimming pool before, until he found a 13m pool in a hotel that he only had access to three hours a week. 

It was only at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre where Eric saw an Olympic-sized swimming pool for the first time. 
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On days he could not use the pool, he trained in rivers and the sea, with the local fisherman guiding him on how to use his legs and arms to stay afloat. 

After only eight months of swimming, he gained entry into the 2000 Summer Olympics. For the first time, he travelled outside his country. 

It was only at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre where Eric saw an Olympic-sized swimming pool for the first time. In the run-up to the Olympics, Eric had been mistakenly informed that he would be swimming only 50m and he had trained accordingly.  

On his arrival at the Games, he discovered the discipline in which he was entered was 100m, a distance that he had never attempted. 

In the days leading up to the event, Eric trained simultaneously with the American swimming team, he used to sit and watch the US swimmers and try to learn their techniques. He also went around to the swimmers and trainers for advice. 

Some helped him, some didn’t. A South African coach, who first double-checked if Eric was really an athlete competing at the Olympics, later helped Eric by not only teaching him some techniques but also gave him a proper swim brief and goggles.  

On ,September 19, 2000, Eric came out for the 100 men’s freestyle heats with Nigeria’s Karin Bare and Farkhod Oripov of Tajikistan. His fellow competitors were disqualified for false start.  

While the Equatorial Guinea swimmer managed to complete the first 50m with all his energy, he struggled to finish the race. Being the sole swimmer in the heats, he had nothing to lose and was determined to touch the finish line and never gave up

 With more than 17,000 audience members cheering for Eric, he touched the wall with a time of 1:52.72s, the slowest timing for the event in the history of Olympic Games.

The story of Eric did not end in Sydney. By 2004, Eric had halved his personal best time to 56.9s. And by 2006, he swam in 52.18s – his best time ever. Unfortunately, he was unable to compete in Athens during the 2004 Olympics due to a passport issue.