MANILA, Philippines — Kayla Sanchez set a new Philippine national record twice in a single day during the 2026 Asian Games women’s 50-meter backstroke event at the Tokyo Aquatics Center on Monday afternoon, ultimately finishing fourth in the final.
Sanchez clocked 28.19 seconds in the final to lower her record once more, following a 28.24-second performance in the preliminaries. Both efforts surpassed her previous national standard of 28.47 seconds set during the 2025 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Thailand.
China's Wan Letian claimed the gold medal with a time of 24.74 seconds, while teammate Wang Xueer (27.66) and South Korea's Kim Seung-won (27.72) secured silver and bronze, respectively.
