Eric the Eel is the Olympic hero who could barely keep his head above water - but stole the hearts of Australia. Now he has taken an unusual path

Olympic champions are often rewarded with money, medals and lucrative sponsorship deals. But for sport's greatest losers, the prize can be much greater. 

In Eric the Eel's case, his 100m freestyle attempt in Sydney 24 years ago has enshrined him in the annals of immortality as an example of grit and determination when the odds are stacked against you.

The outsider from Equatorial Guinea showcased the perfect example of trying your best despite not possessing the skill of his counterparts, just about staying afloat to record the slowest time in Olympic history in his heat - 1:52.72.

The Eel - real name Eric Moussambani - had learnt how to swim just eight months prior to standing on the starting block in Sydney, using small private pools in hotels as well as rivers for training.

He didn't even know what the Olympics was and had to go to the national library to research the international sporting event.  

Unsurprisingly he could barely keep his head above water, but received the kind of reception given to the likes of Cathy Freeman and Ian Thorpe when he finally hit the wall. 

'The last 50m was the hardest time in my life,' he told Mail Sport three years ago. 'There was a time that I couldn't feel my legs, my arms. 

'I was just moving my arms but I didn't feel like I was moving. I was very, very tired. I was giving my last effort to complete it. I was almost, almost, drowning. 

'But when I heard people clapping and cheering my name that gave me more power and more courage to complete the other 50m. It was the first time in my life I swam 100m.

'At the end, I felt so tired that I couldn't even speak. TV were trying to ask me questions but I couldn't breathe. I needed air.

'I went to the changing room and fainted. They gave me air and after 15 minutes I woke up and I asked "What am I doing here?" I said I needed to sleep. I slept from 10am until 5pm.'

Moussambani was hailed as the epitome of the Olympic spirit and has been revered in the same esteem as other valiant losers such as Eddie the Eagle and Maurice Flitcroft. 

Yet he proved that he was the real deal four years later, claiming he swam the same distance at a personal best time of 52.18 seconds in Germany.

That impressive time would have seen him take him gold at every Olympic games up until 1968, when Australia's Mike Wenden set a world record of 52.2 seconds.  

But he will always be remembered for that effort in Sydney and has created a lasting legacy for swimming in his country 24 years later, where he is now coaching the next generation.

'A week after Sydney, the president received me and said he was going to build pools for the future swimmers,' he said. 'So we now have swimming pools for people to swim wherever they want.

'We have good swimmers, they are improving, but my dream is to have competitive swimmers in the Olympics. 

'I will go there as coach because when I am with them they have courage. I am like a symbol, I am an icon here in my country. When it comes to swimming, my name is always there.'

It is the sort of story that scriptwriters in Hollywood can only dream of, and he is the subject of a new movie set to hit screens in the future. 

Movie company Aurora Films secured the life rights of Moussambani, now 46, in early 2023 and will shoot the scripted feature film at some point between 2025 and 2026. 

'To my mind, Eric, and the athletes and trainers who assisted him at the Games, embody the very finest qualities of sportsmanship and the Olympic spirit,' said Aurora Films managing director Akos Armont.

'I hope Eric's journey to the 2000 Olympic Games and his subsequent appointment as Equatorial Guinea's national swimming coach will inspire generations of young viewers to seek out new ways of representing their own communities and positively impacting the world around them.'

When he isn't training his nation's best talent, Eric works a full-time job at a petroleum company to support his family of four children. 

According to his LinkedIn page, he works as a Maintenance Planner at EG LNG. 

Given his status as a sporting icon in his home nation, Eric has used his platform to make a stand on matters important to him.

In April 2020, the 46-year-old strongly opposed the proposed rollout of Covid vaccine testing in Africa, with the World Health Organisation later insisting it had no plans to do so.

He tweeted a graphic which read: 'Africa is not a laboratory' alongside the caption: 'Read it carefully'.

Two days later, he posted: 'Keep on posting it' with an image that read: 'No to vaccine testing in Africa'.

Reflecting on his life-changing experience in Sydney, Eric told the Herald newspaper:  'People didn't know about my country … and now everybody knows about Equatorial Guinea and I'm very proud.

'I found people in Sydney were very kind. People invited me to many places.

'When I went to a mall in Sydney, I wanted to buy a tennis shoe. The owner told me that it was a gift for me. I appreciated that.'