Olympian Kayla Sanchez Crushes School Record in Her UBC Debut

University of Calgary Dino Cup

• October 25-26, 2024
• University of Calgary Aquatic Centre, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
• Short Course Meters (25 meters), timed finals
• Results on Meet Mobile: “AB_2024 UofC Dino Invitational”

2020 Tokyo Olympian Kayla Sanchez second meet as a 1st year member of the UBC Thunderbirds varsity squad this weekend, shattering two UBC records and very-nearly clearing her own best time – which is a Canadian Record.

Individually, Sanchez won the 100 fly (59.92), 400 free (4:13.27), the 100 IM (59.04), and the 100 free (51.96).

That 100 free swim took almost two seconds off the school record of 53.78 that was set by 2012 Olympian Heather MacLean. It was about half-a-second shy of Sanchez’s Canadian Record of 51.45 that she swam at the 2018 Swim England Winter Championships while training with Ben Titley at the High Performance Center in Ontario.

In 2022, Sanchez switched her sporting citizenship to represent the Philippines, qualifying as a universality swimmer. She wound up 15th in the 100 free. If ratified, several of her swims this weekend would be new Filipino Records.

Sanchez’s swim in the 100 free would have placed her 2nd this weekend at the Incheon, South Korea stop of the Swimming World Cup.

In addition to her individual pursuits, Sanchez also split 24.53 to lead off the winning UBC 200 free relay, breaking another record – the old mark of 25.12 was set by Hoi Lam Tam in 2018. She also split 52.41 to lead off UBC’s winning 400 free relay.

The UBC women finished 2nd at last year’s Canadian U Sports Championships, about 140 points behind Toronto.

Her efforts helped UBC knock off the Calgary women this weekend, who were 3rd at last year’s U Sports Championships. The Dinos women were led by 2nd year Alexanne Lepage, who was one of the breakouts of last year’s collegiate season. This weekend, she won the 50 breast (31.23), 100 breast (1:07.21), and 400 IM (4:45.81), with the 50 breast being within a tenth of her personal best time in the event.

She also split 1:06.76 on the breaststroke leg of Calgary’s winning 400 medley relay.

She is the defending U Sports champion in the 200 breast and 400 IM.

The Calgary men won their side of the competition led by three wins from Stephen Calkins. He won the 50 free (22.73), 50 back (25.79), 50 fly (24.46), and 100 free (49.53). He is the defending U Sports champion in the 100 free.

The bigger news for the Dinos was the performance of first year Nicholas Duncan. He won the 100 fly in 53.06 and the 200 IM in 2:02.76, both within a few tenths of his personal bests. He flexed his versatility by finishing 2nd in the 200 fly (2:04.31) and 100 breast (1:02.29).

Other Notable Results:

• 16-year-old Sienna Rodgers of the University of Calgary Swim Club won the 50 back (28.51) and 100 back (1:01.56).
• 16-year-old Laon Kim of the University of Calgary Swim Club won the 200 free (1:47.43), 400 free (3:54.26), and 200 fly (1:58.74). He also finished 2nd in the 200 breast (2:16.73) in a new lifetime best. Earlier this month, he committed to do his college swimming at the University of Texas in the USA.
• 16-year-old Maxine Clark of the University of Calgary Swim Club won the 200 free (2:01.88) and 200 fly (2:17.62).

Team Scores

Women:

1. UBC – 141
2. University of Calgary – 121
3. Calgary Swim Club – 82
4. Lethbridge – 23

Men: 

1. University of Calgary – 148
2. UBC – 143
3. Calgary Swim Club – 39
4. Lethbridge – 19