World's worst olympic trials - Waaay funny :) (Page 2)

Yep...it has been changed, You now have to meet at least the "B" qualifying standards. For the men's 100m free (Moussambani's event), the "B" cut is 50.95--long course meters.

Here's the cool thing: he was training for the Athens Olympics, but didn't get to compete because of visa problems. But in the 4 years after Sydney, he brought his PB down from 1:52 to 56 seconds and change. Maybe five people on this site can swim that fast.

Here is some additional info from a sports blog (stating that the Speedo sponsorship to be true):

Unlikely Sporting Heroes: "Eric the Eel"

Eric "the Eel" Moussambani, b. 1978-05-31 (happy birthday on the day of this writing!), is an Olympic swimmer from Equatorial Guinea who competed in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. For many people watching the Sydney Games this was the first time they'd heard of that country outside of a geography lecture. His appearance in the 100 meters freestyle was definitely the first time they'd ever heard of Eric Moussambani.

The IOC had decided that the Games' audience should be expanded to include minor countries with little to no Olympic tradition. They gave wildcards to some of these nations, who sent their finest competitors. One of them was Eric Moussambani, a swimmer from a patch of land in Atlantic Africa known only to oil executives and Really Intrepid Explorers. He was put on the program and given his Olympic baptism in a preliminary heat in the standard olympic-size swimming pool, which was about 2.5 times the length of anything he'd seen before.

His fellow wildcard competitors in the heat, two gents from Niger and Tajikistan, managed to disqualify themselves with false starts, leaving Eric up shialone in the pool with 100 meters to go for glory, though a place in the semi-final round looked rather unlikely. It was to be the longest swim of his eight-month old career as a swimmer. That must have looked like a whole lot of water in front of him. It wasn't long before people were questioning whether he'd make it at all.

Eric was clearly tiring by the time he reached the 50-meter mark and somehow managed to get the turn right enough to avoid disqualification. His style turned from just sloppy to truly erratic as he struggled to make it through the second half of the solo race. He finally made it in 1:52.72, taking eight seconds longer than the winner of the 200-meter race the day before. The Sydney crowd were pretty much scratching their heads but their reaction eventually turned from jeers to cheers as Eric valiantly splashed his way towards a personal best (and national record). His reward was a standing ovation, a Speedo sponsorship, a catchy nickname from a Times columnist, and a permanent place in Olympic lore. Right next to Johnny Weissmuller, Jesse Owens, and Eddie the Eagle.

Eric the Eel brought his time down to around 57 seconds training in Spain (of which Equatorial Guinea is a former colony) with the intent to be a bona fide competitor in the 2004 Games. Unfortunately the Equatorial Guinean foreign ministry and the local Olympic Committee (such as it may be) were out of paper clips and no bureaucrat could be found in Malabo to attach his passport photo to his accreditation paper. Or something similar. By the time they found one (paper clip or bureaucrat, we're not sure), his photo had gone missing. For real. He was broke, disheartened, and sorely missed in Athens. Maybe you'll see him in 2008. Probably not. Treasure the memory anyway.

http://everything2.com/node/758069

Eric the Eel!!!

Roy and HG were right - I do remember that MORE than anything else from the Sydney Games.  (and I did watch that in real time on THE DREAM when it first aired - Our whole family was watching it and cracking up. 

Yes it was real, Roy and HG followed Eric's Story when he got given his Speedo Sponsorship.  It really was an incredible tale. 

(damn I wish Roy and HG were going to bejing too!) 

Eric still is an inspiration. 

Wow.  He really gave his all.  I hope his sense of accomplishment was HUGE when he finished.  Just to get to the Olympics and compete in a setting like that... regardless of your athletic ability... would be amazing!

I'm glad to hear that he stuck with swimming and has improved so much!  It's nice that he didn't become a symbol of failure, but instead a symbol of the Olympic spirit (regardless of the jokes made by the announcers on the video).

Thanks for sharing!!

-Joel

the "B" cut is 50.95--long course meters.

Just to get to the Olympic trials here in the US you need to swim a :51:59 lcm...

http://www.usaswimming.org/USASWeb/_Rainbow/Documents/a9d4d261-7337-494f-903d-577fddd7e5a2/08TrialsCuts.pdf

79 people in the US have swam under :50.00 in the 100 free this year alone.

That's so cool. There are few people who can say, "I am the best in my country, and I went to the Olympics." Wish he was going to be in this year's olympics.

"Remember the Jamaican Bobsled Team ... and Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards."

You guys beat me to it! 

I have to admit that was inspiring.  By world standards, he was not very fast but he was the champion swimmer of his country and he did break the Equatorial record!  I always root for the underdog.  Of course there is a downside to favouring underdogs.  The odds are great but I did lose a lot of money on the Jamaican Bobsled team and Eddy the Eagle ...

Yeah...there are probably easilly 500 people in the world that have swum 50.95.

edit: currently, the 150th fastest 100 freestyler is 50.13 (that's as far down as the FINA rankings go).