Hangzhou—Tokyo Olympics medalist Kayla Sanchez debut with Team Philippines didn’t play outproductively as the women’s 4x100m freestyle team didn’t podium on Monday night in the 19th Asian Games swimming competitions.
So the wait for the country’s first swimming medal in the games that’s on its 25th year will have to be extended anew.
Sanchez, Xiandi Chua, Tiea Salvino and Jasmine Alkhaldi finished fifth in three minutes and 44.31 seconds, smashing the previous Philippine record of 3:47.05.
Sanchez’s split time of 54.71 seconds also surpassed the Philippine record.
“I’m incredibly proud. I would like to say this is the new era of my career and to start it a new national record is very exciting,” Sanchez said. “I can’t wait to improve more in the future.”
The Philippine quartet finishjed 0.15 second behind Southeast Asian rival Singapore which clocked 3:44.16 in fourth.
China won in a games record 3:33.96.
Sanchez, who won Olympic medals for Canada but changed her affiliation to the Philippines last year, swam her first individual race in the Asian Games also on Monday night and was sixth in the women’s 50m backstroke in 28.66 seconds.
Tiea Isabella Salvino placed eight in the same race with 28.79 seconds.