PARIS. – There was a huge reason why para swimmers Ernie Gawilan and Angel Mae Otom skipped the national Paralympic team’s courtesy call at the Philippine Embassy over the weekend.
While Ambassador Junever Mahilum-West feted and treated other team members to a sumptuous lunch buffet of Filipino food and desserts in the embassy compound, Otom and Gawilan were hard at work preparing for their events in the succeeding two days.
Otom was getting ready for her Paralympic Games debut in what promises to be a highly exciting race in the women’s 50-meter backstroke S5 event at the La Defense Arena pool here Tuesday.
“Angel is doing good. Happy ako sa kanyang progress,” noted national para swimming coach Tony Ong on the eve of the tanker’s debut in the games for physically-challenged athletes.
“Nag-long swim na si Angel ng 3,000-meters, easy swim para bumalik na ‘yung long and lean muscles niya,” added Ong, the reason why she and Gawilan decided to skip the national Paralympic team’s courtesy call at the Philippine embassy.
A student at the UP-Diliman College of Human Kinetics, the armless Otom is considered a top medal prospect among the six para athletes vying in the Paralympic Games here supported by the Philippine Sports Commission.
Ranked No. 5 in the women’s 50-meter backstroke in the Para Swimming world rankings, she is tipped to make it to the finals from the first heat scheduled at 10:26 am. (4:26 p.m. Manila time).
The Olongapo City native will race in lane 5, sandwiched between Chinese He Shenggao, the world No. 2, and Liu Yu.
Reigning Paralympic champion Lu Dong, who holds the world and Paralympic record of 37.18 seconds in ruling the event in the Tokyo edition in 2021, is the obvious favorite in the second head.
The top eight qualifiers advance to the finals at 6:34 p.m. (12:34 a.m. Wednesday in Manila).
With legs built like tree trunks, Otom has a personal best of 44.72 seconds and is eager to surpass that time to achieve a podium finish and end the country’s eight-year medal drought at the Games.
The last one to do it was the late table tennis player Josephine Medina, who won a bronze in the 2016 edition in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Highly competitive beneath her bubbly personality, Otom disclosed in a recent interview that she won’t settle for second best.
“Go for gold talaga. Kung mangarap ka, ba’t hindi na rin gold?” she said.
“I am very much prepared po talaga. Since February pa ko nag-training with coach Tony Ong at bumigat ng bumigat ‘yung workout namin,” said the limbless swimming queen, who bagged four gold medals and emerged as the top para swimmer in the Cambodia Asean Para Games in 2023.
