Manila: Ariel Joseph Alegarbes and Gary Bejino have been added to the five-member national team roster for the World Para Swimming Championships scheduled from Sept. 16 to 27 in Singapore. Alegarbes will compete in the S14 100m backstroke and 100m butterfly, while Bejino is entered in the S6 50m butterfly, and the 50m and 100m freestyle events. Both swimmers received direct invitations from World Para Swimming.
According to Philippines News Agency, at the 2023 ASEAN Para Games in Cambodia, Alegarbes set a new Games record of 2:18.19 in the men's 200m Individual Medley, breaking the 2022 mark of Malaysian Ethan Yin Jun Khoo. Bejino, meanwhile, won two gold medals in the 200m and 400m freestyle and added three silvers in shorter events (50m butterfly, 50m and 100m freestyle).
Two-time Asian Para Games champion Ernie Gawilan, Angel Mae Otom, and Marco Tinamisan made it to the World Championships after earning slots at the World Para Swimming (WPS) World Series in Fuji, Japan last May. Gawilan, who competed at the Tokyo (2020) and Paris (2024) Paralympics, qualified in the S7 men's 400m freestyle and SM7 200m Individual Medley events. Otom, a triple gold medalist at the 2022 ASEAN Para Games, earned her spots in the women's 50m freestyle, backstroke, and butterfly, while Marco Tinamisan, who hails from Quezon, qualified in the S3/SB3/SM3 men's 50m, 100m, and 200m freestyle events.
"This is part of their journey going to the 2028 Paralympic Games in Los Angeles," head coach Tony Ong said in an interview Thursday. Other members of the coaching staff are Brian Micael Ong, Majonie Pulumbarit, and Leo Ramos. The national team is also preparing for next year's ASEAN Para Games in Thailand and Asian Para Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.
