The Slowest Ever Olympic Swimmer

picture was found here

        The Olympic motto: Faster, Higher, Stronger. This couldn’t seem further from what happened in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, where Eric “The Eel” Moussambani, a 100m freestyle swimmer representing Equatorial Guinea, almost drowned in his attempt.

        Eric Moussambani didn’t start swimming until high school. At the time, there was no standard swimming pool in Equatorial Guinea, nor a swimming program. So he practiced in a hotel pool in the open hours and at other times in the river or by the beach. He asked fishermen for advice, but the fishermen taught him only how to stay afloat, not how to swim quickly. Despite the fact that Moussambani was a layman in the swimming world, he was given a chance to compete at the Olympics.

        When Moussambani arrived at the Sydney Olympics, he had never seen a 50 meter pool before. He sat by the pool and watched the athletes from the United States train. A coach from South Africa even helped him a bit with his technique.

        Shortly after, Moussambani was scheduled to compete in the first of ten heats. When the other swimmers dived into the water when he was still on the block. He thought he would be disqualified. However, he was told he would swim alone. “I was so nervous, I was scared people would laugh at me,” Moussambani would later recall.

        Eric “The Eel” Moussambani achieved a time of 1 minute, 52 seconds, the slowest ever olympic freestyle swimmer. I can't imagine the amount of courage it took for him to just show up and swim at the Olympics. His determination and fearlessness is the true Olympic spirit, as he inspired many people in his home country to swim, and now there are professional swimming facilities in Equatorial Guinea. Moussambani later became a fast professional swimmer, and the coach of the national swimming squad of Equatorial Guinea. This proves that you don’t have to be the fastest to be the greatest. Eric will always be legendary and a special person in people’s hearts.



Comments

  1. Foodways guy20 August 2021 at 13:37

    I love this article, Roy. I had never heard about The Eel before, but I feel a bit sad and proud at the same time. You write with a good sense of what information is needed plus empathy. Well done. — Mr. A.

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