Bad Olympic swimmers?

Question

My friend told me that there were two olympic swimmers in either '84 of '96 that were from some African country and had never actually swam in real life and the only practice they had was at the hotel pool during the race he said one was drowning and the other procede at a wading pace. Is this true? i have a bet against it.

Answer 1

It was Eric the Eel.  His real name is Eric Moussambani from Equatorial Guinea.  Before coming to the Olympics, Moussambani had never seen a 50 m (160 ft) long Olympic-size swimming pool. He took up swimming only 8 months before the Olympics and had practiced in a 20 m (66 ft) pool at a hotel in Malabo.  Moussambani gained entry to the Olympics without meeting the minimum qualification requirements via a wildcard draw designed to encourage developing countries without expensive training facilities to participate.

Answer 2

Eric the eel 2000 olympics

so cute

Answer 3

Yes, it's true.

3rd world poverty for the loss!