NAKHON RATCHASIMA, Thailand – Ernie Gawilan broke an 18-year ASEAN Para Games record as he won his second gold medal here at the 80th Birthday Aquatics Center on Thursday.
Gawilan, a three-time Paralympian, clocked two minutes and 26.08 seconds in the men’s 200-meter freestyle S7 event for his second gold medal of the tournament for differently abled bodies.
The 35-year-old tanker erased the previous record of 2:52.11 set by home bet Sittichai Somyut back in the 2008 Nakhon Ratchasima Para Games.
For Gawilan, he is driven by two things in this campaign: making it to the podium of the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics and being a father his soon-to-be-born daughter will be proud of.
“Sana, ipagmalaki niya sa mga kaibigan niya balang araw Sana maging atleta rin siya, swimmer din,” Gawilan said.
“Pinapangarap natin yung medalya. Ginawa ko naman ang lahat at sana maabot natin yun balang araw.
Meanwhile, Gary Bejino, who won the country’s first gold medal last Wednesday, followed it up with another gold medal in the men’s 200-meter freestyle S6 after clocking in two minutes and 37 seconds and eclipsed his previous record of 2:38.55 in Phnom Penh.
“200m event naman siya so kailangan mo i-distribute ang lakas mo, Sa training kasi, inaaral na pacing, lalo na sa distance kasi kapag naubos ka, mahirap na bumalik,” said Bejino, who also grabbed a silver medal last Wednesday in the mixed 4×50 freestyle relay 20 points S1-S10 event with Angel Mae Otom, Marco Tinamisan and Bea Roble.
“Sa Para Games, sana madagdagan pa mga gold na makuha ko ngayon.”
The 30-year-old Tokyo Paralympics swimmer added a silver medal in his tally after finishing the men’s 50m freestyle S6 event in 34.38 seconds.
More swimmers joined the gold rush with Angel Otom clinching her second gold medal as she ruled the women’s 100 m freestyle S4-S5 event with a time of 1:41.44 while Ariel Joseph Alegarbes dominated the men’s backstroke 100m S14 with 1.02.52.
Last Wednesday, Rodrigo Podiotan Jr. ruled the men’s 400m T52 event with 1.01.06 and erased the previous record of 1:01.93 set by Jerrold Mangliwan, who settled for a silver medal in the same event with 1:01.41.
Palarong Pambansa standout Jan Jayro Palermo took home his first gold medal in the ASEAN Para Games after tallying 6.89m in the F20 men’s long jump event.
As posting, the Philippines sits in third place with 12 golds, 10 silvers and eight bronze medals.
