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Eric the Eel Traditional Cache

This cache has been archived.

inspicio: One or more of the following has occurred:

No response from the cache owner.
No cache to find or log to sign.
It has been more than 28 days since the last owner note.

As a result I am archiving this cache to keep from continually showing up in search lists and to prevent it from blocking other cache placements.

Should you like to resurrect the cache please create a new cache listing so it can be reviewed as a new cache.

From http://support.groundspeak.com/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=70

4.23. Unarchiving a Geocache

The archiving of a geocache is intended to be a permanent status. That is why only community volunteer reviewers and Geocaching HQ staff have the capability to unarchive it. This is done only in rare circumstances and only if it meets the current Geocache Listing Guidelines.

If a geocache is archived by a reviewer or staff for lack of maintenance it will not be unarchived.

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Hidden : 10/10/2009
Difficulty:
1 out of 5
Terrain:
2 out of 5

Size: Size:   small (small)

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Geocache Description:

"Eric the Eel" was the nick name given to a swimmer at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games it is also a nick name for the eel that lives in the little creek nearby this cache.

Eric Moussambani (born May 31, 1978) is a swimmer from Equatorial Guinea. Nicknamed "Eric The Eel" by the media after the name first appeared in an article by Craig Lord in The Times newspaper in London, Moussambani won brief international fame at the 2000 Summer Olympics when he swam his heat of the 100 m freestyle in 1:52.72 and won, because the two other competitors Karim Bare and Farkhod Oripov were disqualified for taking a false start. His time was more than twice that of his faster competitors, and outside even the 200 m world record. However he had set a new personal best and national record.

Career

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. While Pieter van den Hoogenband set a world record of 47.84 seconds to win the gold medal, Moussambani splashed his way to the finish to the cheers of the crowd in slightly more than twice that time. "The last 15 meters were very difficult," Moussambani said.

Before coming to the Olympics, Moussambani had never seen a 50 m (160 ft) long Olympic-size swimming pool. He took up swimming only eight months before the Olympics and had practiced in a 20 m (66 ft) pool at a hotel in Malabo.[citation needed]

His performance generated spectator and media interest in the only other Equatorial Guinean swimmer at the Sydney Olympics, Paula Barila Bolopa, who competed in the women's 50 metres freestyle event. Barila struggled to finish the race with a time of 1:03.97, setting a record for the slowest time in Olympic history for that event, and in turn achieved minor celebrity status.

Moussambani was denied entry into the 2004 Olympic Games due to a visa bungle,despite the vast improvement in his swimming over the previous four years, with his personal best down to under 57 seconds. He did not take part in the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Some stealth is required, great for geokids though.

Initially the cache is fairly sparse, a log, some pencils, bring your own pen.

Additional Hints (No hints available.)