5 facts that prove aquatics is the most interesting sport at the Olympics

5 facts that prove aquatics is the most interesting sport at the Olympics

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02/02/2016 - 12:40:35
 What’s your favourite sport at the Olympics? After reading this, it will definitely be aquatics.
As Rio draws ever closer, we’re taking a look at each of the Olympic sports in turn. This week, we’re heading to the pool.
1. Eric Moussambani – aka Eric The Eel – is set to make an improbable return to the Olympics in Rio this year.

Eric the Eel: forever in our hearts (Rob Griffith/AP)

The swimmer from Equatorial Guinea, who found fame for his notoriously slow men’s 100m freestyle heat in Sydney in 2000, has been coach of his country’s swimming team for four years.

Moussambani’s previous bid to return to the Games, in 2004, was scuppered when he mislaid his passport photo.
His efforts have not been entirely in vain: having trained for his own Olympic debut in 13m pools, his country now boasts two new 50m facilities.
2. Denmark’s Peder Lykkeberg was controversially denied gold in the men’s underwater swimming event at the 1900 Paris Olympics in highly unusual circumstances.
Positions were determined by an accumulation of points: two for each metre swum, and one for each 10 seconds spent submerged.
Although Lykkeberg far exceeded eventual gold medallist Charles Devendeville on both counts, his points for distance were severely curtailed because he inadvertently swam in a circle, and he was forced to settle for bronze.
The same Games also featured a men’s obstacle race, in which swimmers had to clamber over a pole, then up and under two rows of boats.
3. Katie Ledecky is almost certain to prove the swimming star of the 2016 Olympics.

Catch Katie Ledecky if you can (Michael Sohn/AP)

The American triple world record holder is an overwhelming favourite to become the first woman to win freestyle titles from 100m through to 800m.
Ledecky marked her arrival on the world stage as a 15-year-old in London when she took the latter title from British swimmer Rebecca Adlington.
Fascinating facts: she likes eating chocolate (though not often), and her dad is a big Bruce Springsteen fan.
4. Marathon swimming has only been part of the Olympic programme since 2008, which is a shame, since had the event been contested at the 1968 Mexico City Games, it would almost certainly have been won by Chairman Mao.

It may not look like it, but Mao is swimming really fast (AP)

In 1964, the People’s Daily praised Mao for his “wonderful health and vitality”, revealing he had swum nine miles across the Yangtze River in only 65 minutes.
Put into context, this is more than twice as fast as the 4.3mph Mark Spitz achieved when setting his men’s 100m freestyle world record in 1972.
5. Water polo is always at best a rumbustious affair, but few games can compare with Hungary versus the Soviet Union at the 1956 Olympics – the so-called ‘Blood in the Water’ match – for notoriety.

The blood that was in the water came from that cut above Ervin Zador’s eye (AP)

The game took place amid a backdrop of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, which had seen Soviet tanks roll into Budapest.
Hungary won 4-0 – or rather, were leading 4-0 when the whistle was blown with one minute still remaining in order to prevent a riot.