Personal information | |
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Born | Faga'alu, American Samoa | November 14, 1985
Sport | |
Sport | Swimming |
Ching Maou Wei (born 14 November 1985) is an American Samoan professional swimmer. He qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, despite the absence of a professional swimming pool in American Samoa. [1] Radio Australia called Maou Wei's qualification as one of the "most unlikely of success stories" of the 2012 Summer Olympics. [1]
Maou Wei was chosen as American Samoa's flag bearer during the 2012 Summer Olympics Parade of Nations at the Opening Ceremony. [2] He hails from the village of Faga'alu. [3]
Eric Moussambani Malonga is an Equatoguinean swimmer. Nicknamed Eric the Eel by the media, Moussambani won brief international fame at the 2000 Summer Olympics for an extremely unlikely victory. Moussambani, who had never seen an Olympic-sized swimming pool before, swam his heat of the 100 m freestyle on 19 September in the unprecedentedly slow time of 1:52.72. This was the slowest time in Olympic history by far, and Moussambani had trouble finishing the race, but he won his heat after both his competitors were disqualified due to false starts. Although Moussambani's time was still too slow to advance to the next round, he set a new personal best and an Equatoguinean national record. He later became the coach of the national swimming squad of Equatorial Guinea.
Gary Wayne Hall Jr. is an American former competition swimmer who represented the United States at the 1996, 2000, and 2004 Olympics and won ten Olympic medals. He is a former world record-holder in two relay events. Hall is well known for his "pro-wrestling-like" antics before a competition; frequently strutting onto the pool deck in boxing shorts and robe, shadow boxing and flexing for the audience.
Ryan John Pini MBE is a 4-time Olympic swimmer from Papua New Guinea. He swam for PNG at the 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016 Olympics; also serving as the PNG flagbearer in 2008 and 2016. He is the first PNG swimmer ever to reach an Olympic final.
Alexander Timothy McKee is an American former competition swimmer and three-time Olympic silver medalist. He was a successful medley and backstroke swimmer, and is often remembered for being a part of the closest Olympic swimming finish in history and the resulting rule changes regarding the timing of international swimming events.
The swimming competitions at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place from 9 to 17 August 2008 at the Beijing National Aquatics Centre. The newly introduced open water marathon events (10 km) were held on 20 and 21 August 2008 at Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park.
Rugby union is the national sport in Tonga. Sumo has a following, while football, judo, surfing, volleyball, and cricket have gained popularity in recent years. Rugby league and Australian football are also played.
American Samoa sent a team to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. The U.S. territory selected four athletes to compete in three sports: swimming, athletics and judo. The dependency's participation in Beijing marked its seventh participation in any Olympic game since its debut at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, and its sixth participation at any Summer Olympic games. Of the four American Samoan athletes who participated in Beijing, all four were first-time Olympians and born outside American Samoa and none of the four advanced past the qualification or preliminary rounds of their events. More women participated in the 2008 American Samoan Olympic delegation than in any one delegation in its Olympic history. Judoka Silulu A'etonu was the territory's flagbearer at the ceremonies.
Hayden Ernest Stoeckel is an Olympic and national record-holding backstroke swimmer from Australia. He swam for Australia at the 2008 Olympics where he tied with Russia's Arkady Vyatchanin for the bronze medal in the 100m backstroke; in semifinals of the event he also set a new Australian and Commonwealth Record (52.97). He was also part of the Australian men's 4×100-metre medley relay team that won bronze at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Fagaʻalu is a village in central Tutuila Island, American Samoa. It is also known as Fagaʻalo. It is located on the eastern shore of Pago Pago Harbor, to the south of Pago Pago. American Samoa's lone hospital, Lyndon B. Johnson Tropical Medical Center, is located in Fagaʻalu. The village is centered around Fagaalu Stream.
Tommaso William D'Orsogna is an Australian freestyle swimmer. He won a bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the men's 4×100-metre medley relay. He also won gold in that event at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, in a Games record time. Individually, at those Commonwealth Games, he won the bronze medal in the 100 m freestyle.
The swimming competitions at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London took place from 28 July to 4 August at the Aquatics Centre. The open-water competition took place from 9 to 10 August in Hyde Park.
American Samoa competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom from July 27 to August 12, 2012. This nation marked its seventh appearance at the Olympics. Five athletes from American Samoa were selected to the Games; all of them were given under Universality slots and tripartite invitation, without being qualified. Freestyle swimmer Ching Maou Wei became the nation's first male flag bearer at the opening ceremony since 1996. Among the sports played by the athletes, American Samoa also marked its Olympic return in wrestling after 16 years. American Samoa, however, has yet to win its first ever Olympic medal.
Lia Neal is a former American professional swimmer who specialized in freestyle events. In her Olympic debut at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, she won a bronze medal in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay. In 2016, she won a silver medal in the same event at Rio de Janeiro. She was the second female African-American swimmer to make a U.S. Olympic team.
Giordan Kariara Harris is a former competitive swimmer, and current swim coach, from Ebeye Island, Kwajalein Atoll, of the Marshall Islands. Harris is a two-time Olympic swimmer, multiple national record holder, NJCAA All American, and NJCAA & NCAA school record holder. Harris participated in numerous international competitions representing his home country, including the inaugural 2010 Summer Youth Olympics in Singapore, FINA World Long Course Championships, FINA World Short Course Championships, and most notably the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, and the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio.
Megan Fonteno is an American Samoan professional swimmer. She qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London at the 100 m freestyle event. She came 26th in the world.
Anthony Liu is an American Samoan judoka.
Joshua Prenot is an American competitive swimmer who specializes in breaststroke and individual medley events.
Brandon Schuster is a Samoan swimmer who represented Samoa at the 2016 Summer Olympics. He holds multiple Samoan records in swimming.
Elama Faʻatonu is an American Samoan sprinter. He competed in the 100 metres event at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. He ranked 7th in his qualifying heat and failed to advance though he set a personal best time of 11.48 seconds.
Fano Frank Shimasaki was an American Samoan chief, civil servant, clergyman and politician. He served as a Senator between 1969 and 1972.