Paula Barila Bolopa was Equatorial Guinea's only female competitor to participate in swimming at the Sydney Olympic Games and was 20 years old at the time of the quadrennial event. She had not entered any previous Olympic Games. Like Moussambani, Bolopa qualified for the Games as a wildcard because she did not meet the minimum qualification standards for the women's 50 metre freestyle. She began swimming two and a half months before the Games. Bolopa took part in the first heat on 22 September, finishing second out of three entered participants, with a time of one minute and 3.97 seconds. The time set a new record as the slowest for a female athlete in the Olympic history of the women's 50 metre freestyle and was double the slowest time of the fastest overall swimmer in the displicine. She received loud support and encouragement from spectators. Bolopa finished second behind the heat's winner Moe Thu Aung of Myanmar (26.80 seconds) after the third participant Fatema Hameed Gerashi of Bahrain was disqualified for a false start. She finished 73rd and last out of all swimmers, and did not progress into the semi-finals because she was 35.90 seconds slower than the slowest competitor who advanced beyond the first round. After the event, Bolopa said that she was very tired because it was the first time she had swum in an Olympic-sized swimming pool.