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Carl Hilario went to Manila and enlisted for the eighth Philippine National Para Games without any high expectations.
After bagging three swimming gold medals, the 18-year-old from Aklan has now become a hands-down asset to the national team.
“We joined several local swim meets in the past and we just tried our luck here. Luckily, Carl won three golds,’’ said Hilario’s coach Allan Gomez.
Hilario on Tuesday added the men’s 200-meter freestyle and 100-m butterfly S14 golds to the 100-m freestyle he won the day before to boost his chances of getting a national team call-up.
“Happy, first time,’’ said Hilario after clocking two minutes and 31.80 seconds in the 200-m free and 1:21.31 in the 100-m fly at Rizal Memorial Sports Complex swimming pool.
S14 swimmers like Hilario have an intellectual impairment or para athletes with slower reaction times and difficulties with respect to pattern recognition, sequencing and memory.
Kenneth Namisato stunned national team mainstay Cecilio Bilog in men’s chess, striking the gold in the individual rapid B1 event for visually impaired athletes.
Namisato totaled 4.5 points in five rounds, winding up half a point ahead of Bilog, who settled for the silver.
Bilog compiled four points in a tie with Romeo de Luna, who eventually got the bronze medal due to Bilog’s higher tiebreaker.