Gawilan gets one more crack

PARIS — Paralympic swimmer Ernie Gawilan wants to end his stint in the 17th Paralympic Games in a blaze of glory.

Gawilan missed the medal race of the men’s 200-meter individual medley SM7 and he intends to make up for that lost opportunity by giving his all in the 400m freestyle S7 race on Monday at the Paris La Defense Arena.

After all, he is Asia’s best in the said event, capturing the gold medal twice in the 2018 Asian Para Games in Jakarta, Indonesia and the 2022 edition in Hangzhou, China.

“I feel great and I will give my all in this event,” said Gawilan, who lacked both legs since birth along with an underdeveloped left arm.

He reached the wall sixth in his heat during the 200m IM preliminaries, missing the chance for a podium finish.

A four-time Asian Para Games gold medalist, Gawilan has been bunched with Argentina’s Inaki Basiloff, Ukraine’s Andrii Trusov, Cuba’s Yosjaniel Hernandez Velez and Yurii Shenhur, another Ukranian, in the 400m freestyle.

Basiloff nosed out Trusov for the gold medal in their 200m IM encounter over the weekend.

Para swimming coach Tony Ong said he expected Gawilan to qualify to the 200m IM final but faced problems during the breaststroke sequence of the event and didn’t force his way.

“Anyway, we tried to use this event as part of the tuneup for his favorite event, the 400m free on Monday,” Ong said.

Should Gawilan get through the heats, the medal race for the 400m free is set early Tuesday morning.

As the Games approach the halfway mark, the Philippines have four more athletes capable of delivering a medal in the nation’s campaign facilitated by the Philippine Paralympic Committee and fully backed by the Philippine Sports Commission.

Para swimmer Angel Mae Otom will open her bid in the women’s 50m backstroke S5 on Tuesday and wheelchair racer Jerrold Mangliwan steps into the Stade de France anew for the qualifying heats of the men’s 100m T52 race on Thursday.

Otom, a triple-gold medalist in the 2023 Asean Para Games, gets another crack at a medal in the women’s 50m butterfly S5 on Friday, after which Cendy Asusano closes out the Philippine campaign in the women’s javelin throw F54 on Saturday.