Image source: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2012/jan/25/olympic-games-eric-eel-moussambani
Eric the Eel. Remember him? His story brings the importance of life story writing to the fore.
I managed to get to a couple of Sydney 2000 Olympic events but quite frankly, it is all just a happy blur. At the time I had three children under five, so the Sydney Morning Herald’s current series, “The Best Games Ever” has been a great way for me to catch up on the stories I missed.
I ate up Eric the Eel’s story, by Tom Decent, last weekend. 20 years ago I had no time for Eric, but now his story is hugely important to me. I am just like my storytellers’ children who have “no time” and “don’t care” to listen to their parents’ stories of resilience now, but would love to later.
Eric Moussambani is from Malabo, Equatorial Guinea and an Olympic development program gave Equatorial Guinea some spots in the 2000 Olympics. Cue watershed moment: Eric heard a call on the radio for people to try out for the swimming team. That moment changed the trajectory of Eric’s life. He could hardly swim, but grabbed the chance to have an adventure, signed up and began to train in whatever body of water he could find. That act of opportunism speaks volumes about Eric’s character.
When the two other swimmers in Eric’s 100m heat at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre were disqualified, a petrified Eric swam alone, barely making it the last 50m. The crowd went crazy. Eric was buoyed by the 17,500 fans clapping and cheering his name. “That gave me more power to finish,” Eric said. Not only does that line attest to Eric’s strong character, it also points to the never-give-up Olympic spirit and to the can-do, on-top-of-the-world Sydney spirit at the time.
Eric clocked the slowest time for the 100m in Olympic history: 1:52.72. But hours upon hours of stroke correction and lap training took him to a 2006 invitational swim meet in Germany, where he achieved 52.18, just four seconds shy of the 2000 gold medal win.
Eric is now Equatorial Guinea’s national swimming coach and trains hopeful Olympians in his spare time. It is thanks to Eric’s will and fame that Equatorial Guinea now has two Olympic-sized pools and he aims to one day see a swimmer from EG win an Olympic medal. His story alone provides the inspiration.
Just like Eric’s story in the Herald, life story writing records watershed moments, character insights and a time and place in history while providing inspiration to future generations. Eric’s story of opportunism and drive within his happy-go-lucky world is one of many to help boost us up today.