Olympic swimmer Kayla Sanchez eyes SEA Games stint

MANILA, Philippines -- Following an impressive performance for the Philippines in Paris, swimmer Kayla Sanchez is now setting her sights in next year’s Southeast Asian Games.

Sanchez, who won two Olympic medals for Canada in the Tokyo Olympics, impressed in her first stint donning the Philippine colors.

She clocked in at 53.67 at the end of the women’s 100m freestyle heats, a new national record.

In the semifinal, though, she recorded 54.21 seconds, bowing out as the seventh placer in the round.

At the end of the Olympics, she finished 15th out of 29 tankers.

In an interview on Tuesday, Sanchez said that with her performance in Paris, she “can only get better.”

“I have a new coach now, I’m enjoying training with him, and I got the fastest time in two years since I switched my nationality. I’m going in the right direction,” she said at the sidelines of the homecoming party for the Olympians at the Hilton Manila.

“SEA Games 2025, [I have] lots of time and I’m so excited to go there and race as much as I can and win medals,” she added.

Next year’s SEA Games will be held in Thailand and will kick off in December last year.

This gives her more than a year and a half to prepare.

Asked about her future plans, Sanchez said that she is confident about her chances to make the 2028 Olympics slated in Los Angeles.

She will also take up nursing and is aiming to get a degree in the near future.