PARIS, France — Veteran Ernie Gawilan led from start to finish in topping the second heat in five minutes and 0.13 seconds to easily sail through the finals of the men’s 400-meter freestyle S7 event of the Paris Paralympics on Monday at the La Defense Arena here.

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 athlete Alekseei Ganiuk to runner-up honors (4:56.68) in Heat 1.

“I didn’t give everything I can. I think I just performed 90 percent of my ability so I can have a better lane in the finals,” said Gawilan, who is scheduled to see action in the finals at 11:30 p.m. (Manila time) also on Monday.

Gawilan said he is in better shape now compared to the previous edition of the Games in Tokyo in which he finished sixth overall.

“I’m in better shape now. I have to prepare for the finals later,” added 33-year-old Davao City native, who has a personal best of 4:54.24 that he set when he made his Paralympic Games debut in Rio de Janeiro 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 sportsfest supported by the Philippine Sports Commission.

“It appears that I was the only one with disability,” quipped Gawilan with a smile at the post-game interview before heading to the locker room.