Swimming with the jellyfish

Attention is now turning to the Tokyo Olympics, as a rush of newly-minted Filipino Olympians filled the sports pages this week. Golfer Juvic Pagunsan, sprinter Kristina Knott and judoka Kiyomi Watanabe qualified in quick succession, bloating the list to 15. But most people forget that, for almost a century now, the Olympics has had a much lesser-known, almost neglected Siamese twin. The Paralympics were founded after World War I to help disabled military personnel assimilate into society once again and feel the pride of accomplishment. And if the past year was challenging for able-bodied athletes, our differently-abled athletes have had an even harder time.

Since the outbreak, they have been home in their own provinces, striving desperately to stay in competition shape. Private clubs and hotels with pools would charge entrance fees. Others like Ernie Gawilan, who lives near a beach, would swim in the open sea, even among jellyfish that flock during summer heat, simply to get a good swim. Many times he risked being stung, poisoned, paralyzed, or worse. It all bore fruit. In the first competition of the Filipino para swim team in more than a year, Gawilan clinched his second straight Paralympics spot and bagged a bronze medal in the World Para Swimming World Series in Berlin, Germany clocking 5:03.74 in the men’s 400-meter freestyle.

“Our main goal is to get the entire team classified,” says para swim coach Tony Ong. “Even though all the different classifications swam against each other in Germany, we achieved that. I even told Ernie not to swim anymore in the final, but his time still wasn’t beaten, so he ended up third.”

PHILSPADA or the Philippine Sports Association for the Differently Abled, has been conducting seminars for sports officials all over the country to enlighten them about sports for the Persons With Disabilities. The hope is for more and more private groups and local governments to give training and hold tournaments, which will in turn broaden the talent pool for the various national teams. For now, though, Coach Tony’s goal is to get the athletes ready for the Paralympics and the ASEAN Para Games, which still do not have a firm date in Vietnam.

“We have to get more distance training,” admits Ong. “I noticed that at around 200 meters, our swimmers slowly start to fade. We need to add that to their training.”

While Gawilan has a tough battle ahead of him, the hope is that he and the entire relay team which includes Gary Bejino, Arnel Aba at Roland Sabido – who all were in Berlin – will bring home gold from Vietnam. They’ve been through so much, including swimming with the jellyfish, and continue to be an inspiration to millions.