By Brian Yalung
Swimmers Ernie Gawilan and Gary Bejino fell short of making it to the medal round in their respective events at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics on Monday (Aug. 30).
Gawilan wrapped up his Tokyo Paralympics stint when he finished 10th in the men’s 100-meter backstroke S7 event at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre.
Gawilan had a time of 1:21:60 which was not enough to advance to the final. Only the top 8 swimmers can qualify for the medal round.
The 30-year-old was 12.48 seconds behind Pipo Carlomagno of Argentina who clocked 1:09:12.
“Ginawa ko na po lahat ng strategy, kaso mailap po talaga. May mga speed pa po talaga sila,” Gawilan later posted on his social media account.
Gawilan competed in three events and made the finals only once. This was in the men’s 400-meter freestyle S7 where he finished at sixth place on Sunday (Aug. 29).
The other event that Gawilan competed in was the men’s 200-meter individual SM7 where he finished ninth last Friday (Aug. 27).
Fellow swimmer Gary Bejino did not have much luck either when he finished 14th in a field of 16 para-swimmers.
He clocked 36.14 seconds in the men’s 50-meter butterfly S6 event, 4.48 seconds behind Nelson Crispin Corzo of Colombia who topped the field with a time of 31.66 seconds.
Unlike Gawilan however, the 25-year-old Filipino from Albay still has two events ahead.
He will see action on Thursday (Sept. 2) in the men’s 400-meter freestyle S6 and the 100-meter backstroke S6 on Friday (Sept. 3). – jlo
