Original in Spanish: Eric Moussambani
Eric Moussambani has been, to this day, the SLOWEST swimmer ever to swim the 100 m freestyle at the Olympics, and that makes him the hero of a truly glorious story.
The guy was set to swim against two others dressed in that slick technical gear for gliding through water, who got disqualified for a false start. Then he was left all alone in a tiny swimsuit facing an Olympic pool, millions of people watching.
What they saw was a half-drowning guy who gave the impression he would need the lifeguards.
“Needing a lifeguard at the Olympics” as a concept.
The thing is that in Equatorial Guinea there wasn’t a single Olympic pool at the time. One day they held trials to decide who to send to the Olympics and he was the only one who showed up. He trained with a fisherman and in a hotel pool at night to learn how to swim.
At the Olympic competition it was the first time he ever swam 100 m in a row. Somebody lent him the swimsuit and goggles the day before so he wouldn’t be disqualified for lack of equipment.
Balls of steel.
And here I am dragging my impostor syndrome around the world. XD
Beers on me, Eric.
His most famous 100 m: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0ZePJy_nZw
Here he tells it himself 20 years later, his headfirst dive still needs some style: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKPwLQHTmxc
Someone who tells it better than me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bTbun08bcc
EDIT: The Jamaican bobsleigh team at Calgary 88. They arrived never having seen a snowflake in their lives and took a serious tumble, though nobody got hurt. The Dragon Khan of their lives.
https://www.lugaresdenieve.com/?q=es/noticia/video-del-desastre-que-conmovio-mundo-equipo-jamaicano
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nm4DjRcmoPY
(Facebook, 2022-12-18)