Para swimmer Angel Otom settled for sixth place in the finals of the women’s 50m backstroke-S5 event in the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games at Paris La Defense Arena Wednesday, Sept. 4 (Manila time).

Otom, 21, who remained calm despite facing her idol China’s Lu Dong, timed in 44 seconds – just a hairline faster than her time in preliminaries – to settle for sixth place in the eight-woman medal round.

As expected, Otom’s heroine and veteran swimmer Dong notched the gold medal with a time of 37.51 seconds.

Her teammates Shenggao He (39.93) and Yu Liu (42.37) earned the silver and bronze medals, respectively.

Otom, prior to her final result, clocked 44.03 seconds to land seventh overall in the prelims which brought her in the final.

The UP standout has one assignment left in the 50m butterfly-S5 set Friday, Sept. 6.

Para racer Jerrold Mangliwan and para javelin thrower are yet to compete for the Nationals, with their respective events set on Friday and Saturday.