Sanchez falls short of podium finish in Asian Games swimming

MANILA, Philippines — In her favorite event, Kayla Sanchez missed the podium in the women’s 50-meter freestyle event at the 2026 Asian Games on Thursday afternoon at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre in Japan. Sanchez, a two-time Olympic medal winner, clocked  24.75 seconds on Thursday to place fourth, just .29 seconds shy of China’s bronze medalist Yujie Cheng, who finished in 24.46 seconds. Qingfeng Wu of China posted a new Asian Games record of 23.98 seconds for the gold medal while Siobhan Haughey of Hong Kong clocked 24.32 seconds for the silver medal. The last time the Philippines won a swimming medal in the Asian Games was in 1988, when Raymond Papa won two bronze medals in the men’s 100m and 200m backstroke events.