FILIPINA TANKER Kayla Sanchez fell short of qualifying into the finals, as she ended her Olympic stint at the semifinals heat of the Women’s 100m Freestyle event in the 2024 Summer Olympics. The tournament was held earlier today at the Paris La Défense Arena in Paris, France.

After setting a new Philippine Olympic record in her previous heat, Sanchez started at lane seven of heat two and went up against the likes of Australia’s Mollie O’Callaghan at lane three, China’s Junxuan Yang at lane five, and Sweden’s world record holder Sarah Sjöström at lane four, who all landed within the qualification heats’ top five.

Beginning the semis meet, the Filipina acquired a reaction time of 0.68 seconds to withstand the waves at the onset. However, the United States’ Torri Huske at lane six led the pack, while China’s Qingfeng Wu at lane one and Sjöström followed behind. At the 50-meter mark, Sanchez clocked in at 26.07 seconds to claim the seventh position.

Coasting through the tides, the Filipina swimmer hustled in an attempt to steer herself back into contention, but still fell short of matching her competitors’ strides. Sanchez completed her heat with a time of 54.21 seconds, ultimately landing in seventh place.

After the overall records were tallied from both heats in the semifinals, Sanchez ranked 15th among 16 competitors, failing to advance into the medal round due to missing the final top eight.

Next to represent the country in swimming is Jarod Hatch, who is set to take on the 100m Butterfly event on Friday, August 2, at 5:00 PM in the same venue.