Swimmer who had never been in proper pool didn’t actually know how to swim before Olympic race and nearly drowned
Equatoguinean swimmer Eric Moussambani overcame great obstacles to participate at the 2000 Olympics
Ella Scott
Eric Moussambani may not have known how to swim properly but that didn’t stop him from competing on the biggest stage of them all - the Olympic Games.
Ahead of the Sydney Olympics in 2000, Equatorial Guinea wanted to gain some sporting glory.
To do so, they put out a public plea for budding athletes to join the team.
One person was answered his country’s call was Eric, a then-22-year-old who decided he wanted to become a swimmer.
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However, the odds were seemingly stacked against the young man as he’d never seen - let alone swam - in a standard Olympic-sized swimming pool (50 metres).
Moreover, as he’d ‘only started’ swimming after leaving school, he was actually unable to swim properly.
But as luck would have it, Eric was the only male Equatoguinean swimmer to turn up to the trial.
He, alongside female swimmer Paula Barila Bolopa, were hired and the race to get ready for the 2000 Olympics was on.
Eric was already facing an uphill battle when he learned Equatorial Guinea didn't have the facilities or the staff for him to train properly.
Instead of working out in a 50m pool like most Olympians, he was forced to do laps of a 13-metre-long hotel pool.
Moreover, Eric was forced to train without a coach despite having no swimming experience.
Recounting his training methods, the Olympian said: “I trained on my own and I had no swimming experience. The pool was only available from 5am to 6am and I was only able to train for three hours a week.”
He then supplemented his pool stints with open-water swims and would routinely take dips in rivers and the sea.
But when you take into account that Team USA's Katie Ledecky clocks around 20 hours per week in the pool and Michael Phelps used to swim between five and six hours per day, Eric was still at a disadvantage.
So the star, later dubbed ‘Eric the Eel’, trained to the best of his ability and he eventually made it to the Sydney Olympics without ever touching a 50m pool.
On 19 September, 2000, Eric dived in and began to compete in his 100m freestyle heat.
Luck for him, he discovered his two opponents had been disqualified due to false starts - meaning all he had to do was complete the race and he’d win.
Despite looking as if he would capsize on his second length, the swimmer battled through the waters and finished in 1:52.57.
Eric's time was too slow to advance to the next round but his freestyle had set a new personal best and an Equatoguinean national record.
After exiting the Olympics, the star continued with his swimming journey and he later competed at the 2001 World Aquatics Championship.
In 2012, he was appointed coach of the national swimming squad of Equatorial Guinea.
So we guess it’s true - you can do anything you put your mind to.