"I was assigned as the pool deck photographer for the Sydney Games, which I was extremely excited about as it was my home town Olympics. The swimming finals at night were always a lot more stressful than the daytime heats. With so many qualifying races for the men's 100 meters, I decided not to worry too much about the heat that ended up being one of the highlights of the Olympics. The heat started with the competitors diving in and straight away I could see that this guy, Eric Moussambani from Equatorial Guinea, was not exactly fast. In fact, he was still touching the end of the first lap as his fellow competitors had almost finished the two pool lengths. I thought I had better get a picture of him in case he disappears under the water. At that very moment, the crowd, who also had not initially paid much attention to the heat, started cheering him on as he struggled to complete his two laps. To be honest, I thought he wasn't going to make it, but pushed on by what was now an almost hysterical crowd, he somehow managed to make the last 25 meters - his head flipping from side-to-side and his teeth clenched. He hung onto the wall for a very long time after, and had to be ushered several times to get out of the pool, as the competitors for the next heat were ready to go. He received another cheer as he exited the pool, which I recall thinking was the loudest I had ever heard for someone who had no chance of winning a medal." - David Gray