By MARK REY MONTEJO
Para swimmer Ernie Gawilan failed to sustain the momentum of a superb showing in one of the heats early in the day and finished sixth in the men’s 400m Freestyle-S7 event of the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games at Paris La Defense Arena late Monday, Sept. 2.
Gawilan, 33, clocked a surprisingly slow 5 minutes and 3.18 seconds in the 8-man race contest won by Italian Federico Bicelli in 4:38.70.
Gawilan’s time was a far cry from his clocking of 5:00.03 in topping Heat 2 that saw him posting the third best time in the heats.
Ukraine’s Andrii Trusov bagged the silver in 4:40.17 and Argentina’s Inaki Basiloff (4:40.27) settled third.
The pride of Davao city thanked his Filipino fans for taking their time to support him in his Paralympic journey.
“Maraming salamat po sa tiwala niyo, ginawa ko na po lahat mailap lang po talaga [at] pagpaumanhin niyo po sana ako kung di ko kayo lahat ma-replyan sobra-sobrang [na]appreciate ko po,” Gawilan wrote on his Facebook post.
“Kayong lahat kayo naman po yong ipagdasal ko na ingatan at pagpalain kayong lahat ng Diyos. God bless you all.”
American Evan Austin and Neutral Paralympiam Aleksei Ganiuk likewise faltered in the medal race after emerging as the top two qualifiers. They placed fourth and fifth, respectively.
Gawilan joined para taekwondo jin Allain Ganapin and para archer Agustina Bantiloc in the sidelines.
Still in contention for the 6-man Team PH are para wheelchair racer Jerrold Mangliwan, para swimmer Angel Otom and para javelin thrower Cendy Asusano.
Mangwilan will have his another shot in round 1 of the men’s 100m-T52 set Friday, Sept. 6; while Otom, on other hand, competes in women’s 50m butterfly-S5 on the same day.
Asusano plunges into action in the women’s javelin thrower-F54 on Saturday, Sept. 7.
