Gawilan tries to rev up PH medal machine

Ernie Gawilan.–CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

PARIS—Swim ace Ernie Gawilan sees action in the heats of his pet 400-meter freestyle S7 race for men on Monday where he will pour it all out for a place in the finals.

A multiple Asian Para Games champion in the event, Gawilan had actually used the heats of the 200-m individual medley (IM) SM7 as a sort of tuneup as he tries to pocket the first medal, hopefully the gold, for the lean Philippine contingent in these Games.

“I feel good. I just hope I can swim a good race,’’ said Gawilan, who is in his second Paralympic Games.

The 33-year-old Gawilan, born without legs and with an underdeveloped left limb, didn’t make it to the medal race of the 200-m IM during the weekend after winding up sixth in the second of two heats ruled by Ukraine’s Andrii Trusov.

The Filipino will again be pitted against Trusov in the second heat of the 400-m free along with Yosjaniel Hernandez Velez of Cuba, Argentina’s Iñaki Basiloff and another Ukranian in Yurii Shenhur. Basiloff claimed the gold medal in the 200-m IM SM7 while Trusov settled for the silver.

Coach Tony Ong bared that Gawilan had a chance to make the medal race, but didn’t force the issue after encountering trouble in the breaststroke leg. INQ