THE Philippines secured two more gold medals at the 33rd Southeast Asian Games in Thailand after swimmer Kayla Sanchez and jiujiteiro Dean Roxas won their respective final events on Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025.
Sanchez shattered the SEA Games record in women’s 50m backstroke in the morning finals, while Roxas dominated the men’s under-85kg jiu-jitsu competition.
The Olympian swimmer Sanchez outraced defending gold and silver medalists Mashinari Wolf of Indonesia and Saovanee Boonamphai of Thailand, clocking a blistering 28.47 seconds.
Sanchez broke Wolf’s games mark of 28.89 seconds set two years ago. Wolf settled for the silver in 29.20, Boonamphai took the bronze in 29.24, while another PH bet, Quendy Fernandez, finished fourth in 29.48 seconds.
Sanchez also erased her own previous record of 28.66 seconds set at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games.
The Philippines, as of presstime, now has four gold medals.
On Wednesday, Justin Kobe Macario delivered the first gold for the Philippines after topping the men’s individual freestyle poomsae event of taekwondo at the Fashion Island Shopping Mall.
Later that day, the team of Sanchez, Heather White, Chloe Isleta, at Xiandi Chua won the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay. The quartet posted a time of 3:44.26, earning the top podium and securing the nation’s second gold medal in the biennial multi-sports meet.
Silver winners
The Philippines also bagged two silver medals on Wednesday, courtesy of swimmer Gian Christopher Santos and the men’s taekwondo team.
Santos captured the men’s 200m medley silver medal, while the Philippine taekwondo trio of Rodolfo Reyes, Ian Corton, and King Nash Alcairo earned the silver in the men’s recognized poomsae contest.
Bronze finishers
Earlier Thursday, Mark Louwel Valderama clinched the bronze in the men’s mountain bike cross-country eliminator. He finished behind gold winner Rendy Varera Sanjaya of Indonesia and Malaysian silver medalist Zulfikri Zulkifu.
Marc Lim likewise salvaged bronze in the jiu-jitsu under-69kg class, beating Noah Tian Run Lim of Singapore before falling to hometown bet Kunnapong Hasdee in the semis.
Karatekas Felix Calipusan, Jeremy Laurence Nopre, and Jodan Macalipay secured the bronze medal in the men’s team kata event by outperforming their Myanmar counterparts.
The Filipino team’s routine, featuring an array of kicks, lifts, sweeps, drags, and trips, garnered a notable score of 22.8 against Myanmar’s 21.5, earning commendation from the judges. / VIA POC/SPORTS RADIO