By Adrian Stewart Co
Filipino para-swimmer Gary Bejino did not have a good start in his 2020 Tokyo Paralympics campaign after failing to qualify in the men’s 200m individual medley SM6 yesterday at the Tokyo Aquatics Center in Tokyo, Japan.
The 25-year-old Bejino failed to qualify to the finals of his S6 event after submitting a time of three minutes, 17.19 seconds which is last among six swimmers in Heat 2 and also last overall among 17 competitors.
According to the International Paralympic Committee, S6 swimmers are those with “short stature or amputations, or moderate co-ordination problems on one side of their body, for example.”
Nelso Crispin Corzo of Colombia had the best time among all swimmers in the event with a time of 2:43.07, followed by Andrei Ganichka of Russia, Jia Hongguang of China, Bermudez Gutierrez of Mexico, Yang Hong of China, Talisson Henrique Glock of Brazil, Zach Shattuck of the United States, and Wang Jingang of China.
All is not lost for Bejino, however, as he still has three events coming up, including 50-meter butterfly on August 30, 400-meter freestyle, and 100-meter backstroke.
Bejino, a two-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist, said he was delighted to be able to represent the country in the Paralympic Games despite not having a proper training due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bejino’s pool performance in the 2018 Asian Para Games in Indonesia was used as basis for his qualification to his first ever Paralympics in Tokyo, Japan.
“I really did not expect to qualify here because we do not have water training and we are just contend to land training,” said Bejino. “But I am hoping that I can deliver a medal for the country in my upcoming events.
“I want to show the country that, despite my amputation, I can bring pride to the Philippines by competing here in Tokyo and, hopefully, took home a medal,” he added.
Meanwhile, another para-swimmer is set to compete in the Para Games today with Ernie Gawilan seeing action in the men’s 200m individual medley SM7 (limited leg function)./ASC, WDJ