Sent: Tuesday, September 19, 2000 8:04 AM
Subject: African novice makes big splash


> Many of those watching in Sydney and around the world would have been able
> to swim the two lengths in half the time - but there was no denying Eric
> Moussambani his moment of Olympic fame.
> The 22-year-old from Equatorial Guinea, who has only been swimming since
> January, huffed and puffed his way to winning his 100m freestyle heat and
> the hearts of all those around him.
> In a pool famous for fast times and record-breaking achievements,
> Moussambani set a landmark all his own - by actually managing to complete
> the distance.
> He had never raced more than 50m before the preliminaries, but was thrust
> into the limelight when the two other swimmers in his heat were eliminated
> for false starts.
> The African novice duly flopped into the water by himself and headed off
on
> his long, tortuous journey.
> At first, those watching on thought nothing of the lazy-looking strokes,
but
> after his 'interesting' flip turn at the halfway point, it suddenly became
> apparent this was no ordinary swim.
> Staying afloat
> Endeavouring to keep his head above water at all times and flailing his
arms
> wildly, he somehow managed to stay afloat as he inched his way to the
wall,
> and salvation.
> Once there, he held on for dear life, before emerging from the water to
> rapturous applause.
> His 'heat-winning' time was one minute, 52.72 seconds, over a minute
longer
> than the fastest swimmers and also more than seven seconds off Pieter van
> den Hoogenband's world record in the 200m.
> But there could be no doubt that here was another Olympic hero in the
> making.
> "I want to send hugs and kisses to the crowd," the French-speaking
> Moussambani said through an interpreter.
> "It was their cheering that kept me going."
> Landmark achievement
> Moussambani was invited to the Olympics through a programme that allows a
> handful of athletes to compete even though they don't meet qualifying
> standards, an initiative promoted by IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch
as
> a way of spreading sport around the world.
> Moussambani, who trains in a 20m pool with no lane markers in his African
> homeland, carried the national flag in the opening ceremony, leading an
> 11-person team that also includes a female swimmer.
> And Moussambani is clearly here to stay. Following his landmark
achievement
> in Sydney, he has already declared he hopes to swim again at the 2004
> Olympics
>
>

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