FUKUOKA, Japan -- Eric Moussambani officially lost
his title as the world's slowest swimmer when he finished
second in his 50-meter freestyle heat at the world
championships on Sunday.
Ten months after swimming the slowest time in Olympic
history in the 100 meters in Sydney, Moussambani clocked 31.88
seconds in the opening heat of the 50 meters, almost nine
seconds behind winner Riley Janes of Canada.
The new slowest kid on the block was Glyn Tonge of Antigua,
who clocked a pedestrian 37.75 to bring up the rear in the
second heat of the morning at Marine Messe Fukuoka.
Carlos Notarianni, a 13-year-old schoolboy from the
Marshall Islands and 14-year-old Samoan Joshua Robert Marfleet
also finished behind Moussambani in the first heat.
Moussambani, nicknamed "Eric the Eel" by reporters after
taking one minute 52.72 seconds to complete the 100 meters at
the Olympics, said he was "disappointed" not to break the
30-second barrier after four months of training in Barcelona.
"I swam 29 seconds in Spain and today was 32 seconds, so I
could have gone a bit quicker. I made one or two small
mistakes," said Moussambani, who hails from tiny Equatorial
Guinea in western Africa.
Moussambani entered the 50 instead of the 100 because of a
shoulder injury sustained in training.
"My left shoulder was giving me a few problems, so all in
all I have to be happy with my performance today," he said.
Moussambani, who swam in a body suit after landing a
sponsorship deal with Speedo, said that he had worked hard to
improve his technique since almost drowning at the Olympics.
"I have been practicing with my new coach Carlos Santos and
I am modeling my style on (Alexander) Popov," he said,
referring to the Russian sprint superstar.
Popov's world record for the 50 meters stands at 21.64.
Moussambani, who used to train in rivers and a 20-meter
hotel pool back home, was mobbed by reporters after his race,
while heat winner Janes was virtually ignored.
"You know, in Sydney all the media interest confused me,
but now I'm kind of getting used to it," he said after keeping
the press waiting for 10 minutes while he toweled down.
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