Kayla Sanchez resets PH record anew, places 5th in Asian Games women’s freestyle

MANILA, Philippines – For the third time in the 19th Asian Games, Fil-Canadian swimmer Kayla Sanchez reset the Philippine record in the women’s 100m freestyle, clocking in at 54.69 seconds in the final round at the Hangzhou Aquatic Sports Arena in China on Tuesday, September 26.

Unfortunately for her and her new federation, the finish was still not enough to even threaten the continent’s best, as Sanchez only finished fifth in the eight-woman final.

Hong Kong’s Siobhan Bernadette Haughey cruised to the gold and reset her own Asian record of 52.27 seconds with a slightly faster finish of 52.17 – now also a new Asian Games record.

Chinese home bets Junxuan Yang and Yujie Cheng completed the podium with silver and bronze finishes of 53.11 and 53.91 seconds, respectively. Japan’s Nagisa Ikemoto, meanwhile, edged Sanchez for fourth with a time of 54.27 seconds.

Xiandi Chua settles for 7th in women’s 200m backstroke

The Philippines’ fortunes were no better in the women’s 200m backstroke later that same night, as Xiandi Chua lagged to seventh out of eight with a time of 2:13.63.

China again racked up a 1-2 finish, as Xuwei Peng rolled to the gold with a time of 2:07.28, while Yaxin Liu was close behind at 2:08.70 for silver.

South Korea’s Eunji Lee completed the podium with a bronze-clinching time of 2:09.75. – Rappler.com