MANILA, Philippines — Para swimmer Ernie Gawilan was unable to book a slot in the Final in his first event at the Tokyo Paralympics, the 200-meter individual medley SM7 on Friday.
Gawilan finished ninth overall among 13 swimmers in the Heats with 2:50.49.
He fell one place short of qualifying in the final as only the Top 8 swimmers overall get to compete in the medal event.
In Heat 1, Gawilan finished 5th among six swimmers.
Two swimmers in Heat 2 — India's Suyash Narayan Jadhav and Ukraine's Yevhenii Bohodaiko did not swim.
Bohodaiko was disqualified from the competition while Jadhav was recorded as "Did not start".
Gawilan still competes in two more events in Tokyo, the 400-meter freestyle, and the 100-meter backstroke in the S7 classification.
The events are slated for August 29 and 30, respectively.