Kayla on her 3 gold, 5 silver feat: ‘I hope I made the country proud’

BANGKOK, December 21 ------ Olympic medalist Kayla Sanchez made a stunning debut at the 33rd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, capping her formidable performance with a haul of three gold and five silver medals in the swimming competition.

Sanchez, who previously secured two Olympic medals for Canada at the 2020 Tokyo Games, expressed her pride in representing the Philippines this time around. “It’s very special. I love my teammates, my whole family is here, and I really hope I made the country proud,” she said.

Sanchez immediately made her presence felt by anchoring the 4x100-meter freestyle relay team to a historic gold medal, alongside teammates Xiandi Chua, Chloe Isleta, and Heather White. The squad secured the Philippines' first-ever gold in that event since joining the Games in 1977. “My first race was a relay, and it was not just me who did it. They all made me less nervous… It was fun to have them,” a visibly thrilled Sanchez said, crediting her teammates for easing her pre-race tension.

On her second day, Sanchez momentarily shattered the meet record in the 50m backstroke preliminaries, clocking 28.47 seconds, surpassing Indonesia’s Wolf Masniari’s 2023 mark. However, in a tightly contested final, she settled for silver as Masniari reclaimed the top spot.

Source: pna.gov.ph