After the holidays, it’s back to work for PH swim ace Sanchez
Kayla Sanchez kept it simple when asked about her plans after a very productive debut in the Southeast Asian Games.
“Go back to training,” the swimmer said after the Games held in Thailand, where she wound up winning three golds plus five silvers to become Team Philippines’ most bemedaled athlete.
A Christmas celebration obviously will come before that, and Sanchez will refocus as she again carries Philippine hopes in the future, starting with the Asian Games later this year, where the competition will be tougher.
Sanchez met expectations in her maiden appearance in the SEAG, as she carried huge credentials as an Olympian for Team Canada before making the switch to represent the Philippines in 2024.
Sanchez took part in the team that won the 4×100-meter freestyle relay, followed by wins in the 100-meter freestyle and 100-meter backstroke events.
She could have won at least one or two more, but settled for silver in five events, namely the 50-meter backstroke, 50-meter freestyle, 4×200-meter freestyle relay and 4×100-meter medley relay.
And Sanchez got those medals during a stretch where she was almost in the pool of the Sports Authority of Thailand Swimming Pool every day—from the morning heats to the evening finals.
“It’s been a long competition, and I had to take it day-by-day,” Sanchez said.
The 24-year-old began her gold rush by teaming up with Heather White, Xiandi Chua and Chloe Isleta to take the 4×100-meter freestyle gold at three minutes, 44.26 seconds, setting a national record in the process.
A second gold appeared to be looming for Sanchez the day after, when she set a SEA Games record during the heats of the 50-meter backstroke at 28.47 seconds, breaking the two-year-old mark of Indonesia’s Masniari Wolf by 0.42 seconds.
But in an ironic twist, Sanchez was denied the gold later in the evening by Wolf, who won at 28.80 or 0.04 seconds faster than the Filipino tanker.
Despite the disappointment, Sanchez used that to fuel her desire to win more.
“It motivated me to win,” she said. “I was really heartbroken. I let myself down, I let the Philippines down and the only thing I can do as an athlete is just focus on the next event.”
And focus she did. Sanchez rebounded by defeating White for the 100-meter freestyle gold, then took the 100-meter backstroke on the day her father celebrated his birthday, outlasting Mia Miller of host Thailand in 1:02.35, topping the race by .17 seconds.
It was not just a fitting way to bounce back, but also a fitting present for her old man.
