I DO not know how to say it best.

Kayla can dominate, Kayla will dominate, Kayla should dominate.

I refer to Filipino-Canadian Olympic swimmer Kayla Sanchez who will be competing in this year’s Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) in Thaland late this year for the first time.

She dropped by recently at the office for a courtesy call with PSC Commissioner Fritz Gaston, together with her coach at the British Columbian University Derrick Schoof after seeing PSC Chairnan Dickie Bachmann first.

It was my birthday that day so I also considered it a special gift meeting a gifted Olympian in Kayla, not to mention her being pretty with a matching pleasant personality and an air of self confidence.

Which is why I am saying come the SEA Games, not just me but a lot of people will be expecting this girl to deliver, more so when we compared her personal record to the current SEAG records in the events she will , in all probabilities be entered.

What we found out is that all her personal best times she shared with us were faster than current SEAG records, in the 50m. freestyle, it is 24.8 versus 25.04, in the 100m. freestyle, 53.67 versus 54.74, in the 200m freestyle, it is 1.57 against 1.59,.

It is the same in the 50m backstroke, 28.2 against 28.89 and in the 200m individual medley, her time of 2:12.6 while the SEAG mark is 2:13.53.

But of course, the order of events will be the key to determine which events Kayla will be joining, something that has to be known in advance by our coaching staff.

According to Coach Derrick, he is confident that his ward will peak come SEAG time and that her current training schedule at BCU allows her to compete with the best Canadian swimmers.

The fact is she won seven gold medals for her school in the 2025 University Sports Swimming Championships in Canada last March, even setting a new Philippine record in the 50m freestyle.

When I mentioned about the expected pressure on her to deliver in Bangkok on December, Dennis again expressed confidence that Kayla will be able to handle that without problem.

And when I looked at Kayla, that is also what I saw, a very confident athlete who is just waiting for the opportunity to show what she can do.

She cited too that BCU is a very good school in swimming with a high performance program in place, she trains there twice a day, going as far as swimming a total of 5000 meters in a day.

But then a look at her international records in major events will show more of what this young lady has done, and looking forward, can do in the future.

She has won a silver and a bronze in the relay events in the Olympics, 2 silvers and 4 bronzes in the world championships, 3 golds, 1silver and 1 bronze in world junior championships, 2 bronzes in Pan Pacific championships, and 2 silvers in the Commomwealth Games.

And even as she did not get a podium finish in the last Olympic Games in Paris, she and her coach are optimistic that she will come up with a better performance come Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, which is Kayla’s dream.

Of course, she still has to contend with the Asian Games before the Olympics and there she will be facing much tougher opponents than in this year’s SEAG.

Singapore will be the team to beat in Thailand but she says she is younger than her top competitor there in the 100m freestyle.

And I like the way Dennis concluded it as far as Kayla’s performance in the SEAG this year, saying, “absolutely, she will be in her best shape then.”

Maybe then, together with another swimmer, homegrown talent but training in Australia, Xiandi Chua, these kadies can pave the way for a comeback for Philippine swimming starting in Bangkok.

Me, I am confident too.

* * *

Congratulations to the PBA for its 50th year celebration. May the league live again its glorious years in Philippine basketball, tough job as it may be.

Also to the 10 newest members of the PBA 50 Greatets Players, led by eight-time PBA MVP June Mar Fajardo and Nelson “The Bull” Asaytono.

For comments and suggestions, email to [email protected].

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Lito Cinco