Kayla Sanchez. —PSI PHOTO
Swimmer Kayla Sanchez is a potential gold medalist in three events in the 19th Asian Games (Asiad) and she wants to make it count.
The Olympic silver and bronze medalist in Tokyo while suiting up for Canada is skipping the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, next week and focusing on the Asiad where she will represent Team Philippines for the first time.
“I have met with my coach, and we have decided it’s best for me not to compete in Fukuoka,’’ Sanchez told Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham “Bambol’’ Tolentino in a recent meeting.
The 22-year-old transferee to the PH swim team is a top contender for the gold in the Asian Games in three events (50-meters, 100-m and 200-m free) based on the clockings of the podium finishers in the previous 2018 Asiad in Indonesia.
“I have a very intense competition schedule after the Asian Games with another world championships and the Olympics,’’ said Sanchez,
From Pampanga
Born to Filipino parents Susana and Noel from Mabalacat, Pampanga province, Sanchez got the attention of Philippine swim officials after helping Canada nail a silver medal in the women’s 4×100-m freestyle relay and a bronze in the 4×100-m medley relay in the Tokyo Olympics.
She cornered two silver medals in the women’s 4×100-m freestyle and mixed 4×100-m freestyle relays and a pair of bronzes in the 4×200-m free and 4×100-m medley relays for Canada during the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, early last year.
Sanchez, who will miss the Fukuoka worlds set to kick off on July 14, is waiting for the full confirmation from World Aquatics regarding her eligibility to represent the country.
Personal best
“Before I withdraw from the competition, I think we should wait until World Aquatics approves my transfer. At least then we know that I’m 100 percent cleared to race for the Philippines in the Asian Games,’’ said Sanchez.
Sanchez owns a personal best of 53.12 seconds in the 100-m freestyle she accomplished in the Tokyo Olympics, just a fraction of a second behind Australian Cate Campbell’s 52.52 Olympic bronze medal.
That clocking is better than the existing Asian Games record of 53.27 set by Japanese Rikako Ikee in the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia and by far superior to the current Southeast Asian Games standard of 54.74 courtesy of Singapore’s Quah Ting Wen.