Team Philippines captured four more gold medals Thursday in the 13th ASEAN Para Games swimming competition at His Majesty the King’s 80th Birthday Anniversary Stadium Aquatic Center in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand.
Ernie Gawilan collected his second gold after ruling the men’s 200m freestyle S7 event in 2 minutes and 26.08 seconds, breaking the 2:52.11 record set by Thailand’s Sittichai Somyut in 2008.
“I hope my child would be proud of me in the future. I hope he also becomes a swimmer,” the 35-year-old Gawilan, a soon-to-be-father, said.
Gary Bejino, who delivered the country’s first gold medal on Wednesday, dominated the men’s 200m freestyle S6 in 2 minutes and 37 seconds to improve the 2:38.55 he registered in the previous edition.
“It’s a 200m event, so I need to distribute my strength. In training, we study pacing especially in distance because if you get tired, it’s hard to come back,” said Bejino, a silver medalist in the 50m freestyle S6 (34.38).
Bejino also grabbed a silver medal in the mixed 4x50m freestyle relay 20 points S1-S10 event with Angel Mae Otom, Marco Tinamisan, and Bea Roble on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Otom topped the women’s 100m freestyle S4-S5 event with a time of 1:41.44 for her second gold medal, while Ariel Joseph Alegarbes triumphed in the men’s 100m backstroke S14 with a time of 1.02.52.
In athletics, Rodrigo Podiotan Jr. won the men’s 400m T52 event in 1:01.06 to erase the previous record of 1:01.93 set by Jerrold Mangliwan, who settled for the silver medal with a time of 1:01.41.
Palarong Pambansa standout Jan Jayro Palermo won the F20 men’s long jump event in 6.89m for his first gold medal in the tournament.
As of Thursday evening, the Philippines sits in third in the overall medal tally board with 12 golds, 10 silvers, and eight bronzes, behind Thailand (52-43-39) and Indonesia (28-28-24). (PNA)
