How they qualified for Paris: Sanchez, Hatch
'HOW they qualified for Paris' continues as The Manila Times explains how swimmers Kayla Sanchez and Jarod Hatch made it to the Paris Olympics.
This is the third of the seven-part series explaining the pathways that Filipino athletes took to make it to the quadrennial showpiece.
It opened with Filipino athletes who are the lone representatives of their respective national teams — rower Joanie Delgaco, fencer Samantha Catantan and judoka Kiyomi Watanabe.
Golfers Bianca Pagdanganan and Dottie Ardina came second before Sanchez and Hatch, now at center stage.
Sanchez and Hatch qualified for the Paris Olympics through Universality places allocated for the top-ranked female and male swimmers of the National Olympic Committee (NOC).
The 23-year-old Sanchez, who switched federations from Canada to the Philippines two years ago, will swim in the women's 100-meter freestyle.
AdvertisementSanchez suited up for Canada at the 2021 Tokyo Games, where she snared a silver and a bronze in the 4x100m freestyle relay and 4x100m medley relay events, respectively.
She holds the national records in women's 50 m freestyle (25.58) and 100 m (54.25) freestyle, which she established at the Mel Zajac Jr. International Meet in Canada last June.
Sanchez also owns the Philippine record in women's 50 m backstroke (28.66), which she submitted at the Hangzhou Asian Games last year.
On the other hand, the 25-year-old Filipino American Hatch will swim in the men's 100 m butterfly in Paris.
AdvertisementA University of California Berkeley standout, Hatch holds the Philippine record in the men's 50 m butterfly (23.89), which he posted at the Cambodia Southeast Asian Games last year.
Hatch also owns the national record in the men's 100 m butterfly (52.87), which he logged at the World Championships last year.
