Paralympians Gary Bejino, Ernie Gawilan win golds in Cambodia Para Games

Paralympians Gary Bejino and Ernie Gawilan won gold medals for swimming in the ASEAN Para Games in Cambodia on Sunday.

Bejino won the Philippines' first gold as he ruled the men’s 400M freestyle S6 after clocking in 5:38.26 which was also a new record for the said event.

???????????????????? ???????????????? ???????????????????? ????????‍??

Team Philippines has its first gold medal in #ASEANParaGames2023 courtesy of paraswimmer Gary Bejino in the Men’s 400M Freestyle S6, clocking in at 5:38.26 to also set a new APG record in the event!

Mabuhay ang #GalingNgAtletangPilipino! ???????? pic.twitter.com/oa3Kw4nrtw

— Philippine Sports Commission (@psc_gov) June 4, 2023

Gawilan, meanwhile, clocked in 4:58.78 to finish first in the men’s 400M freestyle S7 final.

???????????? ????????????????! ????????????

We have another gold medal in para swimming courtesy of Ernie Gawilan dominating in the Men’s 400M Freestyle S7 final, with a time of 4:58.78. Congratulations!

Mabuhay ang #GalingNgAtletangPilipino! ????‍??

????: The Manila Times#ASEANParaGames2023 pic.twitter.com/UDfwrdDSuh

— Philippine Sports Commission (@psc_gov) June 4, 2023

Bejino and Gawilan were both members of the Philippine delegation in the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.

Aside from the two, paraswimmer Ariel Alegarbes claimed a silver medal in the men's 100m Breaststroke SB14 event, while Beariza Roble and Roland Sabido had bronze medals from the women’s 400m freestyle S6 final and men's 400m freestyle S9 events, respectively.

The ASEAN Para Games will run until June 9.

—Justin Kenneth Carandang/JMB, GMA Integrated News