Para tanker Gawilan 3rd in heats, enters finals in Paris

PARIS – Veteran para swimmer Ernie Gawilan led from start to finish in topping the second heat in a time of five minutes and .13 seconds to easily sail through the finals of the men's 400-meter freestyle S7 event of the 17th Paralympic Games swimming meet at the La Defense Arena here Monday.

As Tropical Storm Enteng lashed through Luzon, Gawilan stormed through the heat to finish 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 runner-up honors (4:56.68) in heat 1.

"Hindi ko po binuhos lahat, mga 90 percent lang para maganda yung makuha ng magandang lane sa finals (I didn't give everything, only about 90 percent so that I could get good lane in the finals)," Gawilan said in making his second straight finals in the event at 5:30 p.m. (11:30 p.m. in Manila) where he finished sixth in the Tokyo edition in 2021.

"Mas kundisyon po ako ngayon, Kailangan maghanda mamaya sa finals (I am in good condition now. I need to prepare for the finals later)," added the 33-year-old Davao City native, who has 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 a third straight stint in the sportsfest supported by the Philippine Sports Commission.

"Parang ako lang yung may kapansanan (I looks like I am the only one who have disability)," quipped the athlete with a smile at the post-swimming interview before heading to the locker room.

His performance was a great comeback after bowing out early in the men's 200-meter individual medley SM7 event over the weekend.

Gawilan was 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.

He said, the fact that he won the heat and qualified third to the finals was fine but acknowledged "the others were also pacing themselves kaya hindi dapat maging overconfident. Bahala na po at ibubuhos ko na lang lahat talaga mamaya (so I should not be overconfident. I will give all my best later)." (PNA)