Gary Bejino was one of the first two PH Paralympians seen in action at the Paralympics opener but placed woefully at last out of 17 swimmers in the SM6 200-meter individual medley on Thursday.

Coach Ong said that the pressure got the best out of Bejino as he is still young and was leading the first event for the team PH.

“First time ni Gary to be in the Paralympics and he is still young, masyado ding pressure sa kanya na yung first event sa kanya. I still need to talk to him about it so he can settle down,” said Ong.

Coach Ong further reasoned that their preparations at Philippine Science Highschool was not enough, but he is still expecting Bejino to bounce back in the other events.

The 25-year-old swimmer from Albay is still set to compete in the men’s 50-m butterfly on Aug. 30, 400-m freestyle on Sept. 2, and 100-m backstroke on Sept. 3.

Meanwhile, the next PH Paralympian to compete are swimmer Ernie Gawilan and wheelchair racer Jerrold Mangliwan on Friday.

Mangwilan said that his upcoming battle will be also dedicated to coach Joel Deriada who was not allowed to take the trip to Japan after testing positive for COVID-19. 

“This one is for my coach. Naiwan man siya, pagbubutihin ko talaga na makapasok sa finals at makapagbigay ng karangalan sa bansa. Para kay coach Joel din itong takbong ito,” he said.