Angel Mae Otom during the day of her competition in the Women's 50m backstroke S5 event of the 17th Paralympic Games at the Paris La Defense Arena. Handout/Philippine Paralympic Committee

Filipina para swimmer Angel Mae Otom is determined to reach the finals of the women's 50-meter butterfly S5 event in the 17th Paralympic Games, where she will try to end the country's medal drought.

The heats are set on Friday at the La Defense Arena pool, where Otom will swim side-by-side with Chinese defending champion Lu Dong.

Ranked No. 2 in the world with a time 46.39 seconds entering the quadrennial sportsfest, the armless wonder from Olongapo City will have learned her lessons from her Paralympic debut two days ago when she finished sixth in the women's 50-meter backstroke S5 race.

READ: Otom finishes 6th in 50m backstroke as China sweeps podium

Now with Lu on lane 4 and she on lane 3, Otom will be tested to hilt if she has what it takes in keeping up with the Chinese star known as the "Armless Mermaid," with the top eight qualifiers from two heats advancing to the finals set at 5:59 p.m. (11:59 p.m. Manila time).

"Sayang, sayang," the swimmer said two days ago after matching the powerhouse Chinese trio of Lu, He Shenggao and Liu Yu stroke for stroke, seemingly poised to achieve a podium finish and break the country's eight-year-old dry spell at the Games, before running out of steam in the last 15 meters.

Deputy para swimming coach Brian Ong, the head coach's son, disclosed that boosting Otom's mental toughness in her last event at Europe's largest indoor arena was one aspect they would work on in the stint supported by the Philippine Sports Commission.

"We are looking forward to her outing in the women's 50-meter butterfly on Friday," said the  coach, confident that the athlete would go all out in the country's last-ditch bid to win a medal in this meet featuring the crème dela crème  of physically-challenged bets from 168 nations.

The late table tennis player Josephine Medina was the last to achieve a podium finish in bringing home a bronze medal from the 2016 edition in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.