Ernie Gawilan advances to Paralympics men's freestyle finals

Filipino para swimmer Ernie Gawilan on Sunday booked a spot in the men's 400-meter freestyle S7 finals of the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.

Gawilan clocked in 4 minutes and 58.58 seconds to finish fourth in their heats round and sixth overall to qualify for the finals.

He is 16.76 seconds behind tournament leader Mark Malyar of Israel. 

Only the top eight of the event's nine competitors are eligible for a finals slot.

The finals for the freestyle event is scheduled for Sunday afternoon.

Gawilan on Friday fell short of advancing to the men's 200-meter individual medley - SM7 Finals. —Justin Kenneth Carandang/KG, GMA News