Ernie Agat Gawilan is a Filipino swimmer who competed at the

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

and

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

Summer Paralympics and was the first gold medalist for the Philippines in the

Asian Para Games The Asian Para Games also known as Para Asiad is a multi-sport event regulated by the Asian Paralympic Committee that's held every four years after every Asian Games for athletes with physical disabilities. Both events had adopted the strategy ...

Early life

Gawilan was born in the Paquibato district of

Davao City Davao City, officially the City of Davao ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Dabaw; ), is a first class highly urbanized city in the Davao Region, Philippines. The city has a total land area of , making it the largest city in the Philippines in terms of lan ...

with underdeveloped extremities resulting to him lacking both legs and an underdeveloped left limb due to surviving an attempted abortion and poor pre-natal healthcare in the Marilog District of

. He was orphaned at the young age after his father left him. His mother died of cholera when he was still five months old and his father left Ernie and his mother after the patriarch discovered his mother's infidelity. His grandfather took custody of him until when Ernie Gawilan met businessman Vicente Ferrazzini when he was nine years old. Ferrazzini convinced Gawilan's grandfather to send him to

proper in a training center for the handicapped. In the city, he reside at the Our Lady of Victory Training Center with other handicapped youth under the custody of the Maryknoll sisters of St. Dominic. Gawilan was taken care of by Cecilia Wood, a nun who served as director at the center from 1989 to 2010. Gawilan studied Holy Cross of Sasa for his high school studies and finished at least his second year studies. on May 5, 1991 Ernie Gawilan was brought to Samal Island in 2000 where he worked as a housekeeper of another training center operated by nuns. It was at this place that Gawilan took up swimming.

Career

Gawilan was scouted by swimming coach Mark Jude Corpuz when Corpuz saw him struggling to swim. Corpuz made Gawilan part of a persons with disability (PWD) swimming team he was handling and the Forest Hills resort pool became a place for Gawilan to train. Gawilan's first swimming competition was the 2008 Philippine Olympic Festival which was held in

Cagayan de Oro Cagayan ( ), officially the Province of Cagayan ( ilo, Probinsia ti Cagayan; ibg, Provinsiya na Cagayan; itv, Provinsiya ya Cagayan; fil, Lalawigan ng Cagayan), is a province in the Philippines located in the Cagayan Valley region, covering ...

, he was almost disqualified after competition officials learned that he forgot his swimming trunks but was allowed to compete wearing bulky cargo pants. Gawilan finished second in the competition which included members of PWD national team. The first placer, a native of Iligan and PWD national team member urged him to go to Manila and Gawilan became a member of the national team himself. He has joined numerous tournaments in India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, and Singapore and has won at least 15 international medals by November 2014. Initially competed under the S8 classification, Gawilan later competed under the S7 classification after a change in regulations by the International Paralympic Committee. He trains under National Para Swimming Team Coaches Tony Ong and Ral Rosario.

Asian Para Games

Ernie Gawilan has competed in the

. At the

2014 Asian Para Games The 2014 Asian Para Games ( ko, 2014년 장애인 아시아 경기대회/2014년 장애인 아시안 게임, Icheon sibsa-nyeon jangaein Asia gyeonggi daehoe/Icheon sibsa-nyeon jangaein Asian Geim), also known as the 2nd Asian Para Games, was an A ...

Incheon Incheon (; ; or Inch'ŏn; literally "kind river"), formerly Jemulpo or Chemulp'o (제물포) until the period after 1910, officially the Incheon Metropolitan City (인천광역시, 仁川廣域市), is a city located in northwestern South Kore ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, he won three bronze medals, the most among the Philippine delegation. In the 2018 edition hosted Jakarta, Indonesia, Gawilan won the Philippines' first ever gold medal in the history of the games in the men's 200 meter individual medley SM7. He also won a silver in the 50 meter freestyle S7 event in the same edition.

Summer Paralympics

At the 2015 ASEAN Para Games in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

, Gawilan satisfied the Olympic qualifying time of 4:48.29 after he won a gold medal at the men's 400-meter freestyle S8 event with the time of 4:48.49. The feat qualified him for the

2016 Summer Paralympics ) , nations = 159 , athletes = 4,342 , opening = 7 September , closing = 18 September , opened_by = President Michel Temer , cauldron = Clodoaldo Silva , events = 528 in 22 sports , stadium = Maracanã , sum ...

to be held in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

. The result was also an ASEAN Para Games recording beating the former record result of 5:03.09, as well as Gawilan's previous personal best of 4:53.67. The performance was followed by another gold at the men's 200 individual medley event. Before winning a gold medal at the games, Gawilan clinched the silver medal at the men's 100m freestyle event. At the

, Gawilan competed at the 400-meter freestyle, 100-meter freestyle and 100-meter backstroke events. Gawilan is set to return at the

2020 Summer Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, was an international multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the International Paralym ...

after he attained the minimum qualifying time for the 400m freestyle S6 event. Gawilan formalized his qualification to the Olympics when he took part in a review classification race in the 2021 World Para Swimming World Series in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

which was held on June 18, 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gawilan, Ernie 1991 births Living people Filipino male swimmers Sportspeople from Davao City Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Paralympic swimmers for the Philippines ASEAN ParaGames competitors Swimmers at the 2020 Summer Paralympics S7-classified para swimmers S8-classified para swimmers Medalists at the 2014 Asian Para Games Medalists at the 2018 Asian Para Games Medalists at the 2022 Asian Para Games