Philippines’ ERNIE GAWILAN. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO/ Janneth Tenorio
MANILA, Philippines–Ernie Gawilan’s monotonous daily routine of pool-dorm-dining area trips for the past six weeks inside a training bubble at Philsports Complex in Pasig City has only made the most prolific Filipino para swimmer more thirsty for gold medals in the coming 11th Asean Para Games.
“All of us (para athletes) feel an irresistible urge to win medals in the Asean Para Games,’’ said Gawilan in Filipino, who won seven gold medals in three previous editions of the APG.
The craving to compete in the international arena is quite understandable since the last edition of the Asean Para Games was held in 2017 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
because of the COVID-19 pandemic which forced the cancellations of the 2020 Philippines and 2021 Vietnam versions.
The event will finally be played again from July 30 to Aug. 6 in Surakarta, Indonesia.
But the 31-year-old Gawilan, also a triple gold performer in the 2018 Asian Para Games, is fixated not solely on standing atop the podium in Indonesia but also to cement his place in the next edition of the Games.
“My real target is to improve my clockings. It will be the basis for me to qualify again in the Paralympics,’’ said Gawilan, who is entered in the 400m freestyle, 200m individual medley, 100m backstroke and 4x100m freestyle and medley relay teams.
Gawilan qualified in the Paralympics twice in 2016 Rio De Janeiro and 2020 Tokyo.
The swimmer from Davao City won two gold medals (400m free and 200m IM) in 2017 in Kuala Lumpur on top of one silver (100m butterfly) and two bronzes in the relay events.
“Aside from aiming to surpass this number of medals, I’m also focused on breaking the existing records in my events,’’ said Gawilan.
The 16-man PH para swim team of 12 swimmers and four coaches has been staying inside the bubble since June 6, sans the distraction that could put them out of sync with just two weeks left before the Games.
A total of 144 Filipino para athletes from 12 out of the 14 sports will fly to Indonesia on July 26 on a chartered Philippine Airlines flight.
“We are not allowed to go out. Our trips are limited to the pool and our dormitories. We just train, eat and sleep,’’ said Gawilan. “We don’t think of anything else, except to improve ourselves and win medals.’’