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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 a 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.
Equatorial Guinea participated in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, which was held from 15 September to 1 October 2000. The country's participation in Sydney marked its fifth appearance in the Summer Olympics since its debut at the 1984 Summer Olympics. The delegation included one middle-distance runner, one short-distance sprinter and two swimmers: José Luis Ebatela Nvo, Mari Paz Mosanga Motanga, Eric Moussambani and Paula Barila Bolopa respectively. All four athletes qualified for the games through wildcard places. Moussambani was selected as the flag bearer for the opening ceremony. The four athletes were unable to advance beyond the first rounds of their respective events, with Moussambani and Bolopa attracting attention for their poor performances, but were applauded by the crowds.
The men's 100 metre freestyle event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 19–20 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia. There were 73 competitors from 66 nations. Nations have been limited to two swimmers each since the 1984 Games.
Ravil Nachaev is an Uzbek former swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle and butterfly events. He is a three-time Olympian, and a gold medalist in the 50 m freestyle at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, South Korea.
Allen Ong Hou Ming is a Malaysian former swimmer, who specialised in sprint freestyle events. He is a two-time Olympian, a double gold medalist in the 100 m freestyle at the Southeast Asian Games, and a varsity swimmer for the Minnesota Golden Gophers at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.
Damian Arthur Christopher Alleyne is a Barbadian former swimmer who specialized in freestyle events. He is a two-time Olympian, a varsity swimmer for the Georgia Bulldogs, and a graduate of Bolles School and the University of Georgia, with a major in business administration.
Pavel Mikalayevich Lahun is a Belarusian former swimmer, who specialized in freestyle and butterfly events. He is a two-time Olympian, and a three-time medalist at the FINA World Cup.
Aleksandr Agafonov is an Uzbek former swimmer, who specialized in freestyle events. He is a three-time Olympian, a two-time swimmer at the Asian Games, and a former Uzbekistani age group record holder in the 100 and 200 m freestyle.
Emery Nziyunvira is a Burundian former swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Nziyunvira was elected by the Burundi National Olympic Committee to carry the nation's flag in the opening ceremony. He qualified for the men's 100 m freestyle, by receiving a Universality place from FINA in an entry time of 1:09.84. He challenged six other swimmers in heat one, including 34-year-old Mumtaz Ahmed of Pakistan. He rounded out the field to last place in a lifetime best of 1:09.40, exactly 43 seconds faster than a historic record time of 1:52.72, held by Equatorial Guinea's Eric Moussambani in 2000. Nziyunvira failed to advance into the semifinals, as he placed sixty-ninth overall out of 71 swimmers in the preliminaries.
Spyridon "Spiros" Bitsakis is a Greek former swimmer, who specialized in freestyle events. He is a two-time Olympian, and a 2003 All-American swimmer in the 100 m freestyle, while studying in the United States. He is one of two Greek swimmers, alongside Apostolos Tsagkarakis, who trained for the Alabama Crimson Tide, under head coach Don Gambril, at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa.
Kim Min-suk is a retired South Korean swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle and backstroke events. He is a two-time Olympian, and a double medalist at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan.
Farkhod Oripov is a Tajik former swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. Oripov qualified for the men's 100 m freestyle at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, by receiving a Universality place from FINA without meeting a standard entry time. He participated in an unprecedented first heat against two other swimmers Karim Bare of Niger and Eric Moussambani of Equatorial Guinea, later dubbed himself as Eric the Eel. Before the race began, Oripov plunged into the pool, along with Bare, beating the gun, and were eventually disqualified for a false start, leaving Moussambani as the last man standing.
Sergey Ashihmin (Russian: Серге́й Ашихмин; is a Russian-born Kyrgyzstani former swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. He is a two-time Olympian, and a former Kyrgyzstan record holder in the 50 and 100 m freestyle. While playing for the Russian senior team, Ashihmin also earned a silver medal, along with Denis Pimankov, Dmitry Chernyshov, and double Olympic champion Alexander Popov, in the 4×100 m freestyle relay at the 1999 European Aquatics Championships in Istanbul, Turkey.
Thierry Wouters is a Belgian former swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. He is a single-time Olympian (2000) and a former Belgian record holder in the 50 and 100 m freestyle.
Dennis Otzen Jensen is a Danish former swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle and butterfly events. He is a 2000 Olympian, and a member of Triton Swimming Club in Skovlunde under his personal coach John Ludvigsen.
Ríkarður Ríkarðsson is an Icelandic former swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle and butterfly events. Rikardsson competed only in two individual events at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. He achieved FINA B-standards of 56.22 from the U.S. National Championships in Federal Way, Washington, and 52.42 from the European Championships in Helsinki, Finland. In the 100 m freestyle, Rikardsson placed fifty-eighth on the morning prelims. Swimming in heat three, he picked up a fourth seed by 0.63 of a second behind winner Paul Kutscher of Uruguay in 52.85. Two days later, in the 100 m butterfly, Rikardsson challenged seven other swimmers in heat two, including Guam's 28-year-old Daniel O'Keeffe and Bosnia's three-time Olympian Janko Gojković. He blasted a new Icelandic record of 56.11 to take a sixth spot and forty-eighth overall, finishing behind winner Gojkovic by almost two-thirds of a second (0.66).
Tamer Hamed Ali Zinhom Muhammad is an Egyptian former swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle and butterfly events. He is a two-time Olympian, and an Egyptian record holder in the 50 m freestyle.
Howard Xavier Hinds is a Curaçao former swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle and butterfly events. He is a two-time Olympian, and a member of the Fort Lauderdale Swim Team, under head coach Jack Nelson.
Monique Rachelle Robins is a New Zealand former swimmer, who specialised in sprint freestyle and backstroke events. She represented New Zealand, as the youngest swimmer of the team, at the 2000 Summer Olympics, and also formerly played for Takapuna Swim Club under her personal coach and mentor Brett Naylor.
Mark Stevens is an English former competitive swimmer, who specialized in sprint and middle-distance freestyle events.
References
- ↑ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Karim Bare". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
- ↑ "Swimming – Men's 100m Freestyle Startlist (Heat 1)" (PDF). Sydney 2000 . Omega Timing. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
- ↑ "Sydney 2000: Swimming – Men's 100m Freestyle Heat 1" (PDF). Sydney 2000 . LA84 Foundation. p. 113. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 August 2011. Retrieved 19 April 2013.
- ↑ Penner, Mike (19 September 2000). "Eric the Eagle Leaves a Lasting Impression". The Philadelphia Inquirer . Retrieved 23 May 2013.
- ↑ Lord, Craig (20 September 2000). "Eric The Eel". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
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