Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 30) – Swimmers Ernie Gawilan and Gary Bejino failed to qualify for the finals of their respective Tokyo Paralympics events on Monday.
Gawilan ended his campaign with a 10th place finish in the men’s 100-meter backstroke S7 event preliminary heats, where only the top eight swimmers will progress to the medal race.
The 30-year-old Filipino swimming bet clocked in one minute and 21.60 seconds in the preliminaries.
Gawilan will leave Tokyo with a memorable stint after becoming the first Filipino swimmer to compete in a Paralympic swimming final on Sunday, placing sixth in his favorite men’s 400-meter freestyle S7 event.
The Davao-born Gawilan also competed in the 200-meter individual medley S7 event, where he missed a spot in the finals.
Meanwhile, Bejino placed 14th out of 16 swimmers in the men’s 50-meter butterfly S6 event preliminary heats with a time of 36.14 seconds.
It is the second straight event where the 25-year-old swimmer failed to clinch a finals slot after his Paralympic debut in the 200-meter individual medley S6 preliminaries on Aug. 26.
The Bicolano tanker will still compete in the 400-meter freestyle S6 event on Sept. 2 and 100-meter backstroke S6 event on Sept. 3.
Tokyo Paralympics: Team Philippines schedule, results, updates
JUST IN: Ernie Gawilan ends his #Tokyo2020 #Paralympics campaign by failing to book a finals spot in the men’s 100-meter backstroke S7 event after placing last out of 10 swimmers in the preliminary heats. @cnnphilippines @sportsdeskph pic.twitter.com/JcW8zOhlgG
— David Tristan Yumol (@dtdyumol) August 30, 2021
JUST IN: Filipino swimmer Gary Bejino misses a finals berth in the #Tokyo2020 #Paralympics men’s 50-meter butterfly S6 event after finishing 14th out of 16 swimmers in the preliminary heats. @cnnphilippines @sportsdeskph pic.twitter.com/GDQk79nWQ3
— David Tristan Yumol (@dtdyumol) August 30, 2021
