Filipina swimmer Kayla Sanchez. PSC-POC Media/File
Kayla Sanchez shattered the Philippine women’s 50-meter backstroke national record after clocking 28.19 seconds to finish fifth in the final at the Tokyo Aquatics Center on Monday.
Sanchez erased her previous national mark of 28.24 seconds, which she set in the heats earlier in the day, while also bettering her own Southeast Asian Games record of 28.47 seconds.
The 20-year-old Filipino-American swimmer Teia Salvino also competed in the final and finished eighth in 29.02 seconds.
Wan Letian (27.47) and Wang Xueer (27.66) secured gold and silver for China, respectively, while South Korea’s Kim Seungwon (27.72) completed the podium.
Despite missing the podium, Sanchez remains in pursuit of the Philippines’ first Asian Games swimming medal since the 1998 Bangkok Games, where the country won two bronze medals.
Sanchez will have another chance to reach the podium on Tuesday when she competes in the women’s 100-meter freestyle.