Gary Bejino acknowledged there were two accidents in his life that paved the way for him to wind up on the national para swimming team.

The first was as a 7-year-old boy in Albay. He was electrocuted when he held on to a live power cable, leaving his body badly burnt and requiring amputation of his right arm and left leg.

He was grateful for surviving that and learned to live with his disability growing up.

Bejino said he was spared from the usual taunting by his fellow children, who knew of his condition, at the regular elementary school where he studied from Grades 1 to 4 in his hometown before moving on to a foundation run by priests.

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The other happenstance occurred in Manila.

When he moved to the Big City, Bejino learned that he had a knack for swimming during his stint at the National Orthopedic Hospital in Quezon City.

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Representing the school, he was good enough to win three gold medals in the swimming meet for para swimmers in the 2013 Palarong Pambansa, the school-based sportsfest organized by the Department of Education, held in Dumaguete City.

He emerged from the pool with mints in the boys 50-meter butterfly, 100-meter backstroke and 200-meter individual medley events in the swimfest conducted by the Philippine Sports Association for Differently Abled Athletes, now known by its new name as the Philippine Paralympic Committee.

Bejino’s achievements drew the attention of national para swimming coach Tony Ong, who was looking for a swimmer to represent the country in the same events at the 2013 Asian Youth Para Games in Malaysia later that same year.

“Aksidente lang po ’yun kasi naghahanap si coach Tony ng swimmer sa mga same events ko sa 2013 Asian Youth Para Games kaya ako ang nakasama (It was only an accident since coach Tony was looking for a swimmer in the same events I swam at the 2013 Asian Youth Para Games so I was able to join the team),” Bejino said of his entry into the national para squad.

While he did not make an impression in his first international debut at 17, Bejino merited a second look from Ong, who kept him on the squad to see how the tanker would develop.

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The coach’s faith was rewarded 2 years later when Bejino made a splash at the 2015 ASEAN Para Games in Singapore, collecting a gold medal in the men’s S7 400-meter freestyle race in his maiden appearance in the sportsfest.

He did better in the regional meet 2 years later in Kuala Lumpur, with his second gold in S7 men’s 400-meter freestyle plus a bronze medal in the 100-meter backstroke.

With the added international experience, Bejino held his own at the 2018 Asian Para Games in Jakarta, scooping up a silver in the SM6 men’s 200-meter individual medley and a pair of bronzes in the 100-meter backstroke and freestyle events, respectively.

Bejino, the second eldest in a brood of six and whose father is a laborer and mother a homemaker, revealed that he used part of his allowances as a national para athlete and the incentives that he earned to buy his family a house and lot in Albay.

“Medyo maliit lang po ’yon bahay na pinagawa ko sa isang 100-square-meter lot na nabili ko para sa pamilya ko. Pero OK na rin (I built a small house on the 100-square meter lot that we bought for my family. But that’s OK),” the dutiful and diligent son said.

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The COVID-19 pandemic totally washed out the 2020 season of the national para team, which was gunning for a strong finish at the ASEAN Para Games that the country was supposed to host early last year but was shelved due to the worsening virus situation in the region.

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Bejino said last year was devoted mostly to fitness and conditioning with no actual pool training.

“Para sa isang swimmer importante po talaga sa amin ’yong makalangoy sa pool pero wala po kami nun in 2020 (It is important for a swimmer to have pool training but we did not have that in 2020),” he rued.

He added that the first time he and the rest of the national para swimming squad had pool time was 3 weeks at a high-end condo in Quezon that had a 50-meter pool before they took part in the Internationale Deutsche Meisterschaften Berlin 2021 World Para Swimming Series in Berlin last June.

“Pero medyo po makulob ’yong pool du’n. (The pool was stuffy),” he noted.

He said they had a month’s training at the Philippine Science High School 50-meter indoor pool in their buildup to the Paralympics opening in Tokyo on Tuesday.

This was arranged by the national team chef de mission Francis Diaz, dean of the UP Diliman College of Human Kinetics, with the support of the Philippine Sports Commission.

Bejino was grateful for the opportunity to have the pool time, especially since he will be making his World Para Games debut as the first Pinoy athlete to plunge into action in the SM6 men’s 200-meter individual medley on Thursday at the Tokyo Aquatic Centre.

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“Medyo kinakabahan po, kasi ako ang unang sasabak sa atin pero kaya pong labanan. (I feel a bit tense because I will be the first one to compete for the country but we can manage),” the soft-spoken swimmer said.

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It will be the first of 4 events for the athlete, who is scheduled to compete in the men’s 50-meter and 400-meter freestyle on September 2 and 100-meter backstroke the succeeding day.

Aware that he would be up against the best para swimmers in the world, Bejino said that his aim was to draw as many lessons as possible from his maiden experience in the Tokyo Para Games that will guide him for future international competitions.

“Gusto kong marami ang natutunan ko dito sa Tokyo para lalo pang gumaling at sumikat sa mga kalaban sa hinaharap. Para sa susunod maka-podium na ako (I want to learn a lot from my experience in Tokyo so I can be better against my rivals in the future. So the next time I'm here, I will be on the podium),” he stressed.

He was determined that the Tokyo Games would not be his first and last outing in this quadrennial global sports festival, which isn’t a bad ambition at all for a swimmer who got into the national para team by “accident.”

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