BANGKOK—Akiko Thomson. Elma Muros. Lydia de Vega.
After her historic stint in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games, Kayla Sanchez may have earned the distinction of joining that legendary list of Filipina sporting icons.
Thomson, Muros and De Vega are bonded by a common denominator – all three won 3 golds medals in a single edition of the games.
Once known as Asia’s fastest woman, De Vega bagged three gold medals at the 1987 Jakarta SEA Games (100 m, 200 m, and Long Jump), while Muros, dubbed as the “Long Jump Queen” won three golds at the 1995 Chiang Mai SEA Games (100 m, 200 m, and Long Jump).
The beauteous Thomson secured three gold medals at the 1989 Kuala Lumpur SEA Games (50 m Freestyle, 100 m Freestyle, and 100 m Backstroke), to go with a silver in the 200m backstroke.
But Sanchez, a double Olympic medalist for Canada in the 2020 (2021) Tokyo games, even went further.
She didn’t just win three gold medals (100m Freestyle, 100m Backstroke, and as part of the Women’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay team), the 24-year-old champ also grabbed five silvers along the way.
“It’s very special. I love my teammates, my whole family is here, and I really hope I made the country proud,” she said.
Sanchez began her historic run by anchoring the 4×100-meter freestyle relay team to a historic gold medal, alongside teammates Xiandi Chua, Chloe Isleta, and Heather White, the squad secured the Philippines’ first-ever gold in that event since joining the Games in 1977.
“My first race was a relay, and it was not just me who did it. They all made me less nervous… It was fun to have them,” a visibly thrilled Sanchez said, crediting her teammates for easing her pre-race tension.
On her second day, Sanchez momentarily shattered the meet record in the 50m backstroke preliminaries, clocking 28.47 seconds, surpassing Indonesia’s Wolf Masniari’s 2023 mark.
However, in a tightly contested final, she settled for silver as Masniari reclaimed the top spot.
Channeling her disappointment, Sanchez delivered a dominant performance in the 100m freestyle the following day, claiming her second gold with a time of 54.82 seconds.
“I got motivated. I was heartbroken [after that silver finish]. I felt that I let the country down, and I am just so proud to achieve this gold,” she shared, revealing the emotional drive behind her win.
She completed her golden hat-trick on her fourth consecutive day of competition, taking the 100m backstroke title with a winning time of 1:02.35.
Sanchez also secured five silver medals, three in individual events—the 200m freestyle, 50m backstroke, and 50m freestyle—and two in relays: the 4x200m freestyle relay and the 4x100m medley relay, significantly contributing to the Philippines’ overall medal count.
