Hangzhou, China — Taking part in his favorite event, swimmer Ernie Gawilan delivered the first gold medal for Team Philippines in the 4th Asian Para Games at the Hangzhou Olympic Center here.
The seasoned Paralympic swimmer from Davao City made sure the national anthem would be played for the first time on Tuesday at the Aquatics Arena as he topped the Men’s 400m Freestyle S7 division with a time of four minutes and 58.29.
The Philippines now has a gold, a silver, and two bronze medals, including that from another swimmer Gary Bejino, going into the halfway mark of this multi-sports continental tournament for persons with disabilities.
Making sure not to repeat the same mistake he had the day earlier when he was relegated to the bronze medal in the men’s 200m IM medley, Gawilan timely answered the gun start to go head-to-head with Singaporean rivals Soong Toh Wei and China’s Huang Xiangquan in the first three laps.
Gawilan surged ahead in the next lap at the 200-meter mark on the way to lording over the event that he ruled in the same dominating fashion in Jakarta in 2018 when set the Asian Para Games record with a 4.51.00 clocking.
Toh Wei finished a distant second (5:12.16) while Huang (5:16.33) took the bronze medal as Gawilan coasted to the golden victory that gaveTeam Philippines a big reason to celebrate.
It was on a fruitful day that also saw wheelchair racer Jerrold Mangliwan snatch the silver medal from South Korea’s Jeong Jondae in the men’s 100-meter T52 finals of the 4th APG trackfest at the Huanglong Sports Stadium oval here Tuesday.
The 43-year-old Southeast Asian Games multi-gold medalist submitted a personal best of 18.65 seconds to place second behind eventual gold finisher, Japanese Ito Tatsumi, who set a new Asian Para Games record with 17.41 in the men’s 100m T52.
