No stopping Ernie

Federico Bicelli of Italy was without peer in the men’s 400-m freestyle final. —REUTERS

PARIS—Ernie Gawilan knew right from the start how much of a disadvantage he was in, even for an event that was created to give opportunities to the disadvantaged.

“Just one look at all the swimmers in my category, I’m the only one who appears to have a disability,” Gawilan said late Monday evening after finishing out of the podium in the men’s 400-meter freestyle S7 final.

“But I never backed down,” he added.

Paris 2024 Paralympics. Swimming – Men’s 400m Freestyle, S7 Final, Paris La Defense Arena, Nanterre, France. September 2, 2024 Federico Bicelli of Italy in action before winning gold–REUTERS/Andrew Couldridge.

The S7 category casts pretty much a wide net for participants to include swimmers whose movements are limited in the arms, trunk and legs, and those with a short stature or the absence of limbs.

And the 33-year-old Asian Paralympics star certainly matched that criteria, missing both lower legs and having an underdeveloped left arm. When the ace from Samal Island in Davo walked to the pool’s starting platform at La Defense Arena here, he was clearly dwarfed by the opposition.

Ernie Gawilan walks out of the arena determined to nail a Paralympics medal in Los Angeles. —JUNE NAVARRO

“They are really taller than me. I just didn’t let that distract me,” said Gawilan, who finished in sixth place to match his performance in the same event at the 2021 Tokyo Paralympics.

Italy’s Federico Bicelli struck the gold in 4:38.70, leaving the 6-foot-3 Andrii Trusov of Ukraine behind in the last 150 meters for the surprise victory.

Argentina’s Inaki Basiloff, the gold performer in the 200m individual medley SM7 where Gawilan also competed, settled for the bronze in 4:40.27.

Gawilan doesn’t see himself retiring any time soon despite the setback.

“Given another opportunity, I would like to represent our country again in the next Paralympics,” he said after managing at least to keep his world ranking intact.

The two-time Paralympian has proven his worth in nearly all levels of competition internationally—in the ASEAN Para Games and the Asian Para Games.

Gawilan won four gold medals in just two editions of the 45-country Asian Para Games and netted nine victories in the 11-nation ASEAN Para Games.

But he has yet to achieve podium success at the grandest stage of his sport.

And he won’t stop trying.

“I just have to keep on pushing myself. It’s going to be another four years (to qualify for the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics) and I want to be there,” said Gawilan.