QuickCheck: Was there an Olympic swimmer who did not know how to swim?

THE Olympics is over!

Every four years, the cream of the sporting crop sheds blood, sweat and tears for a chance to stand on the grand stage where athletic prowess is celebrated. Some, however, just show up and perform some questionable breakdancing.

While each event has its overwhelming favourites, like Usain Bolt, who was considered the greatest sprinter of all time, the Olympics has also seen its fair share of underdog stories.

However, when we speak of underdogs, we usually mean those who are less favoured to win, not someone with little-to-no experience in their chosen field.

That makes the story of an Olympic swimmer who barely knew how to swim all the more unbelievable.

Is this a true story or just a tall tale?

TRUE

Eric Moussambani, a swimmer from Equatorial Guinea who barely learned to swim before his

participation in the Olympics, has made a permanent splash beyond his time in the pool.

Also known as Eric the Eel, Moussambani had no swimming experience, no coach and no proper training facilities before the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

The only reason Moussambani even made the squad in the first place was because to put it frankly, there was no squad – his country had received a wildcard entry and put out a call for swimmers.

Moussambani was the only man who turned up for the trials.

Moussambani had less than a year to prepare for the Games and trained primarily in rivers and a 13-metre hotel pool. In comparison, Olympic pools are 50 metres long.

Couple that with the fact that Moussambani was “coached” by fishermen who mainly taught him

“how to move his arms and legs,” and to say that he was underprepared would be the understatement of all time.

When the time came for the event, Moussambani, who had never seen an Olympic-sized pool before, was struck by fear.

“I remember when I saw the swimming pool for the first time, that was the first time I had seen (a 50-metre pool). They told me that was the pool I was going to compete in and I told my people that it was going to be very difficult for me. I was so scared,” he said.

Another twist of fate came when two other swimmers were disqualified for false starts in

Moussambani’s heat meant that he only had to complete the swim to advance.

At one point, it looked like Eric the Eel would not make it – he was a sinking ship and had to hold on to the lane ropes to avoid going under.

But eventually, he managed to eke out a finish in 1 minute and 52.72 seconds, over twice what is considered a competitive time for the men’s 100m freestyle and still the slowest finishing time to ever to be recorded in the event.

Moussambani’s inexperience was evident, and he recalled being afraid the crowd would laugh at him for it. Instead, the 17,500 fans packed into the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre cheered the swimmer on the entire way, touched by his heart and perseverance.

“I knew that the whole world was watching me – my family, my country, my mother, my sister and my friends. That’s why I was telling myself that I had to keep going, that I had to finish, even if I was alone in the pool,” Moussambani said.

Moussambani did not make it any further and never competed in the Olympics again, but the Eel did not stop swimming, eventually cutting his personal best time to under a minute.

His experience went on to inspire an interest in the sport amongst his countrymen: today, Equatorial Guinea has two Olympic-sized pools and Moussambani was hired as the coach for the country’s swimming team in 2012.

Beyond that, Eric Moussambani is enshrined as a cult legend and a symbol of the Olympic spirit, showing that the Games are not just about winning, but also about the courage to participate and the will to finish what one has started.