Kayla Show comes to a close

CHONBURI – Signing off from the 33rd Southeast Asian Games, Kayla Sanchez posted a photo of herself with the hard-earned medals – three gold and five silvers – hanging on her neck.

She wrote in the caption “Tomorrow is Day One.”

That’s how world-class athletes like her transition from tournament to tournament, successful or not, starting all over after closing the chapter on one.

Sanchez, who previously helped Canada to a silver in the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay and bronze in the 4x100m medley relay at the Tokyo Olympics before switching to the Philippines in Paris, made a huge splash in her SEAG debut.

She’s the country’s most decorated athlete here by a mile.

Sanchez anchored the country to its first-ever triumph in the 4x100m freestyle relay then took solo wins in the 100m freestyle and 100m backstroke events, complementing these with runner-up finishes in 50m freestyle, 200m freestyle, 50m backstroke, 4x200m freestyle relay and 4x100m medley relay.

She went up the podium one last time at the Sports Authority of Thailand Pool Monday, glad to share the stage with Xiandi Chua, Heather White and Miranda Renner in her final bow of the Thailand SEAG.

“Today (Monday), the medley relay for the girls is my medal for the Philippines. It’s so awesome,” said Sanchez, who also set a new SEAG record of 28.47 in the 50m back during the heats.

Her exploits lifted the swimming delegation to a 3-9-2 harvest – a big leap from the 1-3-3 two years ago in Cambodia sans her.