Kayla Sanchez is looking to live up to expectations by showing up prepared for the 19th Asian Games that will be held in Hangzhou from 23 September to 8 October.
Philippine Sports Commission chairperson Richard “Dickie” Bachmann said Sanchez will be training in California in preparation for the continental meet, where she will make her debut as a member of Team Philippines.
The 22-year-old Sanchez is looking at kicking off her training on 18 July under the watchful eyes of Jeff Julian — the same trainer of national team member Jarod Hatch.
“She was supposed to train in Europe with her Team Canada teammates but decided to move her training to the United States, instead,” Bachmann said in a message to Daily Tribune on Saturday morning.
“Now, she’s back in Toronto.”
Sanchez is an elite talent who is heavily favored to win an Asian Games gold medal.
Before deciding to suit up for the Philippines, she campaigned for Canada, winning a silver medal in the women’s 4×100-meter freestyle relay and a bronze medal in the women’s 4×100-meter medley relay in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
Her personal best in the women’s 100-meter freestyle is 53.12 seconds, which is better than the standing Asian Games record of 53.27 seconds set by Rikako Lee of Japan in the 18th edition of the Games in Jakarta in 2018.
Bachmann said they expect Sanchez to take the Asian Games by storm and contribute significantly to Team Philippines, which is looking to win more than four gold medals for the first time since the 1962 edition in Jakarta.
Aside from Sanchez, also tipped to win for the Filipinos are pole vaulter EJ Obiena, weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz, boxers Nesthy Petecio, Eumir Marcial and Carlo Paalam and judoka Kiyomi Watanabe.
