Kayla Sanchez

Biography

Kayla Sanchez won two medals in her Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020. She swam the leadoff leg for the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay that won silver and was the anchor swimmer in the heats for the women’s 4x100m medley relay that went on to win bronze. She was also part of the fourth-place finish in the 4x200m freestyle relay. Individually, Sanchez was 10th-fastest in the heats of the 100m freestyle but elected not to start in the semifinals.

Sanchez won two bronze medals at the 2019 FINA World Championships as she swam the leadoff leg for both the women’s 4x100m and 4x200m freestyle relays which broke the national records in those events. That was her second appearance at the worlds. In 2017, she was a member of the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay that finished fourth and she also swam in the prelims of the 4x200m freestyle relay.  

In 2018, Sanchez won a pair of silver medals at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia as a member of the 4x100m and 4x200m freestyle relay teams. She also reached the finals of the 50m freestyle and 100m freestyle. That summer, she competed at the Pan Pacific Championships, winning bronzes with the 4x100m and 4x200m freestyle relays and reaching the finals of her three individual events.

Sanchez won five medals at the 2017 FINA World Junior Championships, bringing home three relay gold medals (4x100m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle, 4x100m medley) as well as a silver in the 200m IM and bronze in the 100m freestyle.

She qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Team by winning the 50m freestyle at the Canadian Olympic Swimming Trials in June 2021. She added another Olympic qualification with a silver in the 100m freestyle, finishing behind Penny Oleksiak and just edging out Margaret Mac Neil for the second Olympic slot.