Moments after he became the first Filipino Paralympian in history to compete in the finals of the Paralympics, Ernie Gawilan admitted he still has a lot to work on.
First, the ‘Dabawenyo Torpedo’ realized while he had the talent to be in the running for a Paralympic medal, he still lacked the speed of his rivals.
In a conversation with this writer shortly after he finished sixth in the finals of the men’s 400-meter freestyle-S7 event with a time of four minutes and 56.24 seconds, Gawilan said: “Naa pa jud silay speed sir grabe (They got speed, sir. Too much speed.”).”
The 30-year old swimmer who was born with underdeveloped extremities swam with all his might in the last 100 meters for a respectable finish at the Tokyo Aquatic Centre.
“Kusog jud sila sir kay akong best time sa hundred meter 1:05 pero sila split lang nila ang 1:05 (They’re really fast because my best time in the hundred meter is 1:05 and that 1:05 is just split for them),” said Gawilan in the online conversation.
Trailing in the seventh spot for most of the race, Gawilan made his move at halfway mark before going full throttle in the seventh lap, emerging from the pool as the first Filipino para swimmer to reach the finals of the quadrennial sportsfest featuring the best para athletes in the world.
He finished 25.18 seconds behind Israel’s Mark Malyar, who led from start to finish in bagging his second gold medal in a new world record of 4:31.06, surpassing his previous mark of 4:33.62 in 2019, with Ukraine’s Andrii Trusov (4:35.56) securing the silver and American Evan Austin (4:38.95) bronze.
Despite the sixth place finish, coach Tony Ong beamed with pride over the feat of Gawilan who bested by more than two seconds his qualifying time of 4:58.58 in the morning heats.
“Intense! Hahaha. Finally, Ernie is the first para (Filipino) swimmer to get into the finals. So happy naman kami with the outcome,” Ong said.
Gawilan said he also has to improve on his strategy in the pool. “Strategy jud sir kay usahay mawala ko sa pool (I think I need to focus on my strategy because sometimes I get disoriented in the pool),” said Gawilan who trained mostly in the coastal waters of Samal Island in the height of the pandemic.
Gawilan is set to resume training upon his return and focus on his preparations for the Asian Para Games in China next year.
As for the 2024 Games in Paris, Gawilan said he is still not thinking about it.
