PARIS. – Veteran para swimmer Ernie Gawilan knows how to keep his promise and did it with a flourish in his pet event, the men’s 400-meter freestyle S7 race at the 17th Paralympic Games swimming meet at the La Defense here Monday.
After bowing out early in the men’s 200-meter individual medley SM7 contest over the weekend, Gawilan kept his vow to national para swimming coach Tony Ong and fans back home, storming to top the second heat in five minutes and .13 seconds.
He finished third overall among the eight qualifiers behind American topnotcher Austin Evan (4:56.48), who came from behind to relegate Neutral Paralympic Athlete Alekseei Ganiuk to second (4:56.68) in heat 1.
“Hindi ko po binuhos lahat, mga 90 percent lang, para maganda ‘yung makuhang lane sa finals,” said the swimmer, who advanced to his second straight finals in the event at 5:30 p.m. (11:30 p.m. in Manila). He finished sixth in the Tokyo edition in 2021.
“Mas kundisyon po ako ngayon. Kailangan maghanda sa finals,” added 33-year-old Davao City native, who clocked a personal best of 4:54.24 in the event when he made his Paralympic Games debut in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2016.
Born with underdeveloped extremities, sporting one normal arm and having no legs, Gawilan could not help but notice the difference between himself and his opponents in his third straight stint in the games.
“Parang ako lang ‘yung may kapansanan,” quipped the athlete with a smile at the post-swimming interview before heading to the locker room.
He had a great comeback after bowing out early in the men’s 200-meter individual medley SM7 event over the weekend.
Gawilan emerged the fastest from the get-go, completing the first 50 meters in 35.47 seconds, slowed down slightly at the halfway point, before gaining his second wind to finish strongly and way ahead of the pack.
