Otom keeps rolling, makes final round

PARIS, France — Angel Mae Otom placed third in her qualifying heat, propelling herself to the final of the women’s 50-meter butterfly S5 at the 17th Paralympic Games here.

Otom reached the wall in 46.85 seconds and made it to the medal race as fifth overall.

Lu Dong, the gold medalist in their 50m backstroke encounter the other day, topped the heats in 40.50 followed by silver medalist He Shenggao (43.11) and Sevilay Ozturk of Turkey (44.70).

“I studied everything I have to do in this swim. I’ll work hard to win in the final round,” said the 21-year-old Otom, the reigning Asean Para Games champion in the same event who will vie in the final round at 12 midnight (Manila time) on Saturday.

Philippine sports officials witnessed Otom’s qualification race led by Philippine Sports Commission chairman Richard “Dickie” Bachmann, commissioner Fritz Gaston, executive director Paolo Tatad as well as Philippine Paralympic Committee (PPC) president Michael Barredo, PPC secretary general Goody Custodio and chef de mission Ral Rosario.

“Angel had a better swim compared to her previous event. Coach Tony (Ong) really worked hard with her for this swim,” para swimming deputy coach Bryan Ong said.