Legendary swimmer Eric the eel to compete in Hungary

Although the 4th stop of the FINA Swimming World Cup would be a star parade in itself, the organisers came up with two extra events to entertain the audience. Eric Moussambani, also known as Eric the eel, who became world-famous at the Sydney Olympic Games, is coming to Hungary to compete and also to represent his country.

According to nemzetisport.hu, Eric the eel was probably one of the biggest surprises in the history of the Olympic Games when he completed the 100-metre freestyle event in 1:52:72, which is more like a 200-metre time.

He became the symbol of Olympic values.

It turned out that it was the first time he swam in a 50-metre pool as he could only practice in a 13-metre pool in his home country. Still, he wanted to participate in Sydney, which he managed through the invitation card granted to his country thanks to the law of universality.

For Hungarians, the event is connected to legendary commentator Jenő Knézy who could not get over what he was seeing:

Eric the eel with English commentary:

Since then, he has become the president of Equatorial Guinea’s swimming federation and the goodwill ambassador of the sport. Besides fame, he also received a lot of support for his country, which now has two 50-metre pools.

The athlete will compete in two events at the World Cup. On the 4th of October, he will compete with seven successful, non-swimmer Hungarian sportsmen, while on the 6th, his opponents will be enthusiastic civilians trained by Hungarian clubs.

The line-up of the “star race” is quite iconic: the 40-year-old Moussambani will be swimming with Olympic Champion short-track skater Shaolin Sándor Liu, Olympic and World Champion gymnast Krisztián Berki, World Championship bronze medallist athlete Balázs Baji, World Championships silver medallist Crossfit athlete Laura Horváth, Olympic bronze medallist epee fencer Péter Somfai, World Championship bronze medallist wrestler István Veréb and the “longest-wearing” Hungarian striker Sándor Torghelle.

Besides the special events, the swimmers will be the stars for three days. The Hungarian squad, led by Katinka Hosszú, will compete against swimming icons such as Sarah Sjöström and Chad le Clos.

Featured image: www.musz.hu

Source: http://m.nemzetisport.hu/