00:00His lungs were burning, his arms and legs aching, and he was close to drowning in the middle of the
00:04pool in front of 17,000 people. He could barely swim, let alone compete. So how did this guy
00:10even make it to the Olympics? Well, in the lead up to the Sydney Games in 2000, in a bid
00:15to
00:15encourage all countries, including developing nations, to participate in the Games, the
00:20International Olympic Committee offered Equatorial Guinea a wildcard entry for swimming. The country
00:25established their own brand new swimming federation, and they put out a call, asking anyone
00:29who knew how to swim to come to a hotel in the capital city of Malibu for a tryout. Eric
00:35Musambini
00:35was one of only two people who showed up. So after flopping around in the hotel pool for a couple
00:40minutes without sinking, Eric was accepted into the team, and just like that, he was on his way to
00:45the Sydney 2000 Olympics in Australia, a country he'd never even heard of before. But as the Olympics
00:51approached and he finally arrived at the pool in Sydney and saw how big it was, he nearly shit
00:56himself. See, Eric had practiced in the lead up to the Games using the hotel's 13 metre pool,
01:01and by his own measurements, he was able to swim the full length of the 50 metre freestyle without
01:06stopping. But this pool was way bigger than he expected. He asked the officials how long it was,
01:11and they told him 50 metres. Eric was a little confused. He was told that he had to swim all
01:16the
01:16way to the end of the pool and back, but that would be 100 metres. He double checked the event
01:21he was in,
01:21and that's when he really started to panic. Eric had been mistakenly entered into the 100 metre
01:26freestyle, not the 50. He was in trouble. Over the next few days, Eric nervously watched the
01:32other team's practice, asking questions and trying to learn as much as he could. Most of the other
01:37swimmers ignored him, but when a South African coach noticed Eric struggling in the pool,
01:41wearing a pair of non-regulation board shorts and no goggles, he took Eric under his wing,
01:46giving him the gear he needed and some last minute guidance. When the day of Eric's heat arrived,
01:51he stepped onto the starting block with his hands shaking so much he could barely even get his
01:56goggles on. He waited for the starting beep and then suddenly there was a splash. The other two
02:02swimmers in his heat had false started, and now with both of those swimmers disqualified, Eric was left
02:07to swim the 100 metres completely alone in front of the massive Sydney crowd. The starting beep sounded,
02:13Eric dove in and powered through the first 50 metres with everything he had. But as he made the turn,
02:18and the lactic acid flooded his muscles, and the exhaustion overwhelmed him, he felt himself
02:23sinking. His paddling became sluggish and uncoordinated, and he was embarrassed, convinced
02:28the world was laughing at him. But as he listened to the Aussie crowd, he realised they weren't laughing,
02:33they were on their feet, cheering. He struggled alongside the lane rope, every instinct telling
02:37him to grab it and save himself from drowning. But he knew touching it would mean instant disqualification,
02:42so he pushed on. And finally, after 1 minute and 52.72 seconds, Eric touched the wall, winning his
02:49heat with the slowest 100 metre freestyle in Olympic history.
03:12That was enough to give thanks.
03:12The Loveless See
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