Eric Moussambani

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Moussambani and the second or maternal family name is Malonga.
Eric Moussambani
Personal information
Full nameEric Moussambani Malonga
Born (1978-05-31) 31 May 1978 (age 46)
Malabo, Equatorial Guinea
Sport
CountryEquatorial Guinea
SportSwimming
Events
Achievements and titles
Personal bests
  • 50 m freestyle: 27.9s NR (2004)
  • 100 m freestyle: 56.9s NR (2004)

Eric Moussambani Malonga (born 31 May 1978) 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 (50 meters) swimming pool before, swam his heat of the 100 m freestyle on 19 September in a time of 1:52.72.[1] 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.[2] He later became the coach of the national swimming squad of Equatorial Guinea.[3]

  1. ^ Lord, Craig (19 September 2000). "Courage on the blocks". Sydney Olympics 2000: Swimming News Archive. Retrieved 9 May 2008. Moussambani would plough a lonely lane for his finest 1mins 52.7 sec, though it felt like an hour. Equatorial Guinea's aquatic answer to Eddie the Eagle – Eric the Eel – churned the lane in which Ian Thorpe had raced to a silver medal in 1 min 45 sec over double the distance the day before.
  2. ^ Wallis, Holly (8 August 2012). "London 2012: The Olympic also-rans". BBC News. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  3. ^ Decent, Tom (28 August 2020). "'I used to be a very shy guy': What Sydney Olympics cult hero Eric the Eel did next". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 July 2021.