Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 7) — Kayla Sanchez, who donned Canada’s colors in previous international swimming competitions, is switching flags as she’s set to take her talents to the Philippine team.
Philippine Swimming Inc. announed Thursday that the 21-year-old athlete has decided to transfer to the Philippines in the hopes of representing the country in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Sanchez is coming off a silver medal and bronze medal campaign in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as part of Canada’s women’s 4x100m freestyle relay and 4x100m medley relay teams, respectively.
Tracing her roots to Pampanga, Sanchez was born in Singapore and her family spent some time in the Philippines before moving to Canada. She made her international debut for Canada at the 2016 Junior Pan Pacific Championships in Maui, USA — she won silver in the 4x100m freestyle relay.
Since then, Sanchez established herself as one of the best Canadian swimmers, winning medals in major events like the FINA World Championships and holds a number of Canadian records as well as world junior records.
