Ernie Gawilan dominates heat, reaches swimming final for shot at Paralympic medal
This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.FINISH. Ernie Gawilan in action for the Philippines in the heats of men's 400m freestyle S7 in the 2024 Paris Paralympics.Ernie Gawilan posts the third-fastest time in the heats of the men's 400m freestyle S7 as he gets a chance to capture the Philippines' first-ever medal in Paralympic swimmingMANILA, Philippines – A breakthrough medal in the Paris Paralympics looks within reach for Filipino para swimmer Ernie Gawilan as he reached the final of the men’s 400m freestyle S7 with the third-fastest time on Monday, September 2.Gawilan clocked 5:00.13 minutes to top his heat at the La Defense Arena and redeem himself two days after he failed to qualify for the final of the men’s 200m individual medley SM7.Only Evan Austin (4:56.54) of the USA and Aleksei Ganiuk (4:56.68) of the Neutral Paralympic Athletes recorded faster times than Gawilan, who has a chance to capture the Philippines’ first-ever medal in Paralympic swimming.If Gawilan, 33, makes the podium, he will become just the third Filipino to win a Paralympic medal after powerlifter Adeline Dumapong (2000 Sydney) and table tennis player Josephine Medina (2016 Rio de Janeiro).“So far, my condition is fine. I’ll give it my all in the final,” said Gawilan in Filipino.Gawilan, who was born with no legs and an underdeveloped left arm, seized an early lead and remained in front the rest of the way as he finished over 15 seconds ahead of Ukraine’s Andrii Trusov (5:16.03).Italy’s Federico Bicelli (5:06.51), China’s Xianquan Huang (5:10.55), Argentina’s Inaki Basiloff (5:17.33), and Ukraine’s Yurii Shenhur (5:19.46) also made the final.Cuba’s Yosjaniel Hernandez Velez (5:26.56) failed to make the cut as only eight of the nine para swimmers advanced to the medal race.The final is scheduled at 11:30 pm on Monday. – Rappler.comALSO ON RAPPLER
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