09 Oct 00 - 10:13 PM (#315189) Subject: The World's Slowest Swimmer From: Alan of Australia G'day, One of the nicest little stories to come out of the Olympics was the following. The heat concerned was replayed several times on TV & reported in all the newspapers here. From The Daily Telegraph, 20 Sept 2000:- Slowest swimmer hero of the pool He tookthe longest time to complete the 100m freestyle, but the man who only learned to swim nine months ago was the hero of the Olympic pool yesterday. Eric Moussambani, from the tiny central African nation of Equatorial Guinea, only took up the sport in January and had never raced in a 50m pool before when he made his country's Olympic swimming debut. He was forced to swim his heat alone after the two other wildcard entrants, Karim Bare from Niger and Farkhood Oripov from Tajikistan, were disqualified for false starting. Moussambani, 22, who trains in crocodile and snake-infested rivers near his home in inland Molabu, swam with his head out of the water to rapturous applause from the crowd. He battled valiantly to stop the clock in 1 min 52.72 seconds - longer than it takes Ian Thorpe to swim 200m freestyle - and was given a standing ovation for his effort. THE WORLD'S SLOWEST SWIMMER
By Alan Foster
The world's slowest swimmer Eric Moussambani
He'd only been swimming since January
He swam the first length and just as he'd learned
With courage undaunted on that lonely swim
And while you're competing in life's weary race
Cheers, |
09 Oct 00 - 10:24 PM (#315194) Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The World's Slowest Swimmer From: Bugsy He might be regarded as the world's slowest swimmer but at least he can swim 100 metres, which is more than I can do now. cheers Bugsy. |
10 Oct 00 - 02:17 AM (#315312) Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The World's Slowest Swimmer From: The Shambles HERE HER**** glug***...glug***.....* No 'crocs' in the pools I used so I have no excuses for sinking for Britain. My nickname would have been 'The Stone'. Good on yer, Eric.... Thanks for the song Alan. Are there any more that have come out of the Olympics? |
10 Oct 00 - 04:31 PM (#315719) Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The World's Slowest Swimmer From: The Shambles On the TV just now, they had a TV awards ceremony. One of the people handing out the awards (to Michael Barrymore), was our Eric 'The Eel'. He received a very warm welcome and said "I may not have won a medal but I am happy that I have made a lot of friends". |
10 Oct 00 - 06:33 PM (#315786) Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The World's Slowest Swimmer From: Lanfranc My Hero! My swimming coach once awarded me the accolade "He washes well!" Says it all, really. |
10 Oct 00 - 11:34 PM (#316015) Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The World's Slowest Swimmer From: Rich(bodhránai gan ciall) If you're being chased by a shark, the slowest swimmer in the world would be a good friend to have with you ;) Rich |