Kayla Sanchez sets new PH record, advances to Asian Games 50m backstroke finals

MANILA, Philippines — Swimmer Kayla Sanchez shattered her own national benchmark after clocking 28.24 seconds to place fourth in the women’s 50-meter backstroke preliminaries at the 20th Asian Games at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre in Japan. Sanchez surpassed her previous record of 28.47 seconds, which she established during the 2025 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Thailand. With her fourth-place finish, she advances to the finals alongside fellow Filipino swimmer Teia Salvino, who qualified in tenth spot with a time of 29.14 seconds. Leading the preliminary round were China’s Letian Wan (27.66) and Xue’er Wang (28.15)—both 2024 Paris Olympics bronze medalists in the 4x100m medley relay—and South Korea’s Kim Seo-yeong (27.91), the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games gold medalist in the women's 200m individual medley.