World's worst olympic trials - Waaay funny :)

Shouldnt' the subject be "Please critique my swim stroke!"

Seriously thouh, is this an actually olympic trial?  I am just curious how this guy even qualified to be there.  I would assume not anyone can show up even in small countries, isn't there a minimum standard for the events?  I would assume the 100m free time would be well under 1'.

Remember the Jamaican Bobsled Team. 

And Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards.

If he was the only guy to show up for the swim team for his country and they have the money to send him to the games, then he could swim as slow as he wanted.  Obviously the guy would have no chance in the actual Olympic competition, but that doesn't mean he isn't the best/only guy they have for the team.

It varies greatly from sport to sport. Swimming is particularly permissive because FINA (the international governing body of swimming) gets to decide the rules for Olympic qualification, it's an individual sport where a lot of extra participants can be easily accommodated, and the number from each country is limited regardless of qualifying time (this is true for most sports, but you can see that in swimming, it creates a lot of room for extra athletes).

The requirements for unqualified swimmers (those that didn't qualify by time or approved national/international competitions) are that the country must have a National Federation or National Olympic Committee for that sport, approved by FINA, and that the NF or NOC must submit individual applications for each participant (after swims significantly worse than the one depicted, FINA does require some proof that the person can actually swim, and can actually complete the distance).

P.S. After looking this up, I think the requirements have been tightened more ... I believe the athletes must have participated in FINA World Championships of the year before, and, as said, that FINA still reviews each individual application in light of the specific times. 

Good for him...at least he competed for his own country.

http://www.lightthetorch.net/2008/american-athlete-competing-for-team-russia

You know wanna know what happened after?

Speedo sponsored him, giving him gear, swimming lessons and a pool to train in.

The announcers are actually comedians in Australia.  They were not the real announcers of the event.

As far as the Olympics go, I was under the impression that a country without an Olympic team was allowed to send 1 athlete to compete in any 1 event regardless of their ability.