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Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider 15-year-old Bulaga joins vets Chua, Sanchez in SEAG-bound swimming team

15-year-old Bulaga joins vets Chua, Sanchez in SEAG-bound swimming team

Published Aug 27, 2025 01:44 pm

At A Glance

  • Fifteen-year-old Kyla Louise Bulaga is set to become the youngest member of the Philippine swimming team bound for the 33rd Southeast Asian Games in Bangkok, Thailand.
Fifteen-year-old Kyla Louise Bulaga is set to become the youngest member of the Philippine swimming team bound for the 33rd Southeast Asian Games in Bangkok, Thailand.
Mentored by Isagani Corpuz, Bulaga clinched the silver medal in the women's 400m individual medley in the 2025 Philippine Aquatics, Inc. (PAI) National Tryouts Sunday, Aug. 24, at the historic Teofilo Yldefonso Swimming Center in Malate, Manila.
Bulaga clocked 5:11.84 and finished behind veteran campaigner Xiandi Chua who topped the race with a time of 5:05.61. Both surpassed the qualifying standard of 5:13.05 to earn slots for the Bangkok Games.
“Masayang-masaya po at very proud. Dati po pinapanood ko lang yung mga langoy nila ate Xiandi (Chua), ngayon nakasabayan ko siya tapos silver medal pa ako. Very grateful ako sa mga suporta, specially sa parents ko at kay coach Ryan,” said Bulaga, who earlier ruled the 400m freestyle but missed the qualifying mark despite a 4:45.74 finish.
It will be Bulaga's lone event in the SEA Games while Chua, on the other hand, has now qualified to five events including her signature 200m backstroke where she is the defending champion and record-holder.
She clocked 2:17.10 to qualify, though still a far cry from her SEA Games record of 2:13.20.
She also qualified in the 100m freestyle (56.95), 100m backstroke (1:03.07) and 200m IM (2:18.38).
Olympic relay silver medalist Kayla Noelle Sanchez also looms as one of the country’s biggest hopes after qualifying in six events: 100m freestyle (55.00), 50m back (29.00), 200m free (2:01.41), 50m butterfly (27.46), 100m back (1:02.38) and 50m free (25.38).
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